Fortitude

First anniversary of mum up north, 30 April 2020

Donated by SR, diabetes and endocrinology consultant, London

Rainbows appeared in the windows of homes across the country during the pandemic. They became symbols of hope – a reminder that better things can come after a period of adversity.

SR photographed this rainbow during the first UK lockdown. It crosses Eccles New Road, a normally busy road leading to Manchester city centre. The rainbow appeared on the first anniversary of SR’s mother moving into a care home, which is located at the left-hand end of the rainbow. Salford Royal Hospital is on the right, with the distinctive curved wall. SR recalled that at this time, ‘the whole hospital was full to overflowing of very sick people’.

SR was walking to her mother’s care home ‘to have a “chat” with her through the window.’         

Christmas Santa

Donated by AB, nephrology consultant, London

‘I chose [this picture] to represent the enormous generosity and outpouring of gratitude we experienced with almost too many cakes and sweets to fuel our endeavours. Many were labelled with the name of the families who made the cake and very helpfully had an ingredients list and were each individually wrapped.

‘People wanted to help in whatever way they could and being in a hospital in a position to actually help felt like a privilege. The fact too that people were thinking of our wellbeing was also soothing but in some senses gave us an increased sense of enormous responsibility to do the best we could for these lovely folk.’

Infection control nurse with Easter eggs, April 2020

Donated by the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, London

MLM, the Infection Prevention and Control Nurse at the RHN, recalled how staff morale was boosted by a donation of Easter eggs:

‘Easter during [the] pandemic was a difficult time for our healthcare workers. Staff were working long hours, hardly seeing their families and these donations were a reminder of kindness in times of crisis. These Easter eggs cheered us up. No nurse can resist chocolates!’

Angel card, 2020, and photograph of the card in ED’s lanyard, 2021

Donated by ED, respiratory registrar, south-east England        

ED’s mother found this wallet greeting card in a supermarket and sent it to ED to let her know that her parents were thinking of her, and that they cared about her.

ED kept this card close to her – carrying it every day in her hospital lanyard – during the first two waves of the pandemic.

ED, Angel card

My mum sent me a card just saying, ‘we’re thinking of you,’ and it was a lovely card, still got it now, though saying, ‘we’re thinking of you and we’re very proud’. I’m the only one in my family that’s in medicine so my mum and dad had obviously seen the news and seen the NHS in crisis, but they didn’t have any personal experience of it apart from through me. And so, they sent me this card and – and in it there was a little – like a credit card sized card, and it was pink and it had an angel on it. And the words on the card said, ‘Keep me close to you wherever you go, I will keep you safe.’ And my mum had seen this in the supermarket and had sent it to me. She was worried about me obviously and she wanted me to know that they were thinking about me and that they cared. And, yeah, so she sent me this little angel and as I said it was credit card sized so I slipped this angel card into the back of my ID card and I did carry it with me throughout the first and the second wave of COVID until I sent it to the Royal College of Physicians when you were asking about any memoirs or, or things that reminded us of COVID. So, it’s now at the Royal College of Physicians.

Thank you card

Donated by JB, geriatric medicine consultant, Scotland

JB received this card from a colleague at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. The message inside the card reads:

‘J[B], Thank you for everything you have done to support the patients and your colleagues over this horrid year. We’ve been so lucky both professionally and personally to have you. Thank you, Hazel x’

TKL – having a faith during the pandemic

I think it’s worth just thanking the church that I belong to because in the time that I was isolating from everyone else they set up this meal train that meant that every evening I had one hot meal. They just constantly had this round of meals provided that kept me interested and kept me sane in my self-isolation. It was really bizarre. I remember this really vividly. It was like a day like today, bright sunshine, lovely spring. Could hear the birds, the flowers were coming into blossom, and I paint a rosy picture but it was exactly like that, with no cars, no planes, no trains and it was absolute bliss. And I thought, ‘That’s really bizarre,’ because in this moment of crisis, when things seemed to be falling all around us, there was this beauty all around us. Well, one may call it faith, or one may call it nature or God but I felt quite close to my Maker at that moment and I felt very supported because there were hands out there that were supporting, even though they couldn’t come and touch you, they were supporting, and supporting my family as well.

‘It’s good to talk’, 2021

Poem by HL, consultant physician, Wales

On Time to Talk Day (4 February 2021), a campaign created by the mental health charity Time to Change, HL published this poem. It asks the reader to recognise the people in hospitals who often go unnoticed.

HL, a consultant at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in south Wales, wrote poetry ‘as a form of release when the emotional burden of the pandemic began to interfere with my ability to be a “normal” wife and mum […] I have only shared two publicly […] I was amazed at how many bereaved relatives replied, thanking staff looking after their loved ones when they couldn’t. That’s the thanks and recognition that NHS staff need right now.’

'It's good to talk'

I pray he survived
I rush to the ward
He tries to smile
My greatest reward.

His family so grateful
So precious, but faceless
Such emotion and fear
His survival is priceless.

I return to the office
I'll get through today!
Then flowers from the caring
Perhaps I can stay?

But all staff around me
So struggle each day
They suffer in silence
And dare they to say?

Such supportive staff
Vital cogs in the team
The grief they have witnessed
The things they have seen.

Who asks the porters?
Who hope for the best
Who cradle the sick
Then carry them to rest.

Who asks the domestics?
Who clean every space
After those who kept leaving
Having lost life's race.

Who cares for the caterers?
Who keep us all going?
Exposed to a risk
But carry on, knowing.

That we all need each other
Now, more than ever
And we may just survive this
But only together.

LJS – Ways of Relaxing

It’s just been really hard, I mean, because, you know, what can you do? There’s only so much, so many things you can do at home, I mean. I tried to read but I just found I couldn’t really concentrate, although one of the only things I can read are murder mystery novels. Which I think is so interesting that I listened to a podcast called ‘She Done It’. And she talks about this as the kind of golden-age mysteries of like [Agatha] Christie and things, all were around the time when people had just experienced war and so were looking for some kind of stories that made sense of the world and murder mysteries really do that really well. So there’s a lot of threat, but they’re very well packaged into a neat logical order, with an outcome. That just really resonated so much, it’s like, you haven’t been really able to read much in terms of novels but I can read a murder mystery and it is so neatly packaged into this ordering of the chaos, so I think that’s one thing… And otherwise, on my days off, I would just always go for a walk. I’m lucky where I live it’s quite green. So, we have the docks, there’s a nature park and there’s some woods, and so my partner and I would go for a walk around the woods and just notice things like, when the allium comes out, or when the snowdrops arrive, or the fact that there’s a woodpecker that you can hear. There’s a city farm nearby, so we go visit the goats. [laughs] I really love the goats. And yeah, I think… I don’t know, I’ve noticed nature a lot more, I think, the last couple of years. When the trees blossom, it’s just, like, really noticeable, sort of passing of time in a way that again is kind of bigger than the chaos that you’re currently experiencing, so the fact that every year the blossoms come out at the same time. There have been some swans that have had cygnets, and then we’ve sort of watched them grow up and turn white, and now I can’t tell which are the swans are which are the cygnets, and that’s happened over the last year while… So, there’s just these things that are kind of happening separate from the chaos of our day-to-day lives. It’s a nice thing to contrast and to remember that, although this is all encompassing and very important right now, you know, the world sort of ticks on and carries on, and that this won’t be our life forever.

‘SALUTE TO CORONA WARRIORS’ badge; photograph of TKB wearing the badge, July 2020

Donated by the family of TKB, senior consultant physician, Kolkata

TKB worked at the Calcutta Medical Research Institute, Kolkata. On 1 July 2020 – National Doctors’ Day in India – TKB was given this badge by the Kolkata Police as a token of appreciation. TKB was photographed wearing the badge shortly before he died on 31 July 2020.

Pin badge of recognition given by Leeds General Infirmary

Donated by Leeds General Infirmary

Leeds General Infirmary gave these pin badges to staff to recognise the work they did during incredibly challenging circumstances. They were given to all staff working in the intensive care unit, including many volunteers.

The design of an owl was created by a local art student in Leeds. Owls are often depicted to represent wisdom, but they can also symbolise transformation, healing and good luck.

‘What we go through, together’

Donated by Leeds General Infirmary

In the autumn of 2021, the adult critical care team at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust took part in a series of wellbeing reset days.

The reset days were intended to help staff prioritise their own wellbeing, following the enormous challenges they faced during the pandemic. They were run in partnership with wellbeing workshop providers Mind It and Optimus Team Learning.

Staff created 600 origami butterflies, each with a personal message. CB, lead quality nurse with the adult critical care team, described how ‘this project has given us an important chance to use art as part of our own healing process and to express our sadness, solidarity and hope in a unique and beautiful way.’

The trust’s aim was to give participants the opportunity to reflect on recent events and move forward. The trust hoped that the reset days would help each participant to feel and understand that leaders, colleagues and the trust acknowledged their dedication and experiences of working during the pandemic, and that the trust cared about them, valued them and wanted to thank them.

The butterflies were brought to life by a local artist, Aimee Grundell, in an exhibition ‘What we go through, together’, at Leeds City Museum. They have now been given to the RCP Museum.