REAL LIFE STORY
TRADING PLACES At the height of the pandemic staff from across Mersey Care rose to the challenge of swapping their ‘day job’ for a vital role on the front line. Two of them share their experiences.
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Quality assurance lead Kate Aslamian-Porter was among staff who signed up to be redeployed during the pandemic.
s she donned her personal protective equipment all Kate Aslanian-Porter could think of was what she’d learnt in her training to be a swabber. Outside the room a queue of NHS staff impatient to discover if they had contracted the virus without symptoms.
Kate recalls a mixture of excitement and trepidation. “I didn’t think twice when they asked for volunteers. It was only when we put on the PPE it struck home how important it was. I’m so glad I was paired with Ronan, he was a calming influence.”
Until lockdown Kate, Mersey Care’s quality assurance lead had been visiting wards to help teams of staff ensure their services met quality standards. Unable to fulfil that role at home she leapt at the chance to volunteer for redeployment. “I had no idea where I might be sent. I just wanted to help out and do something valuable.”
The teams were working against the clock to make sure swabs were at the lab by the end of each day.
Community physiotherapist Ronan Donohue goes into people’s homes, helping them to get back to normal life after a fall or surgery. Unable to see his patients at home during lockdown he had the same thought as Kate. Both joined Mersey Care’s army of volunteers for redeployment, and the pair found themselves buddied up as part of a team charged with swabbing 500 Trust staff in two days.*
I wanted to do something that would make a difference... you get a real buzz from being part of something bigger. Kate recalls: “We’d have to gown up, swab then gown off, wash our hands, complete the paperwork, then start again. And in between we’d be reassuring people who were unsure what swabbing involved. There was no time to think, we just did it.”
*Mersey Care was part of a national research programme looking at people who tested positive for Covid-19 but were asymptomatic.
Ronan agrees. “There were so many unknowns, so tensions were running high and people were scared. You do have a little worry in the back of your mind but we worked well as a team. I did the swabbing and Kate the admin, then we swapped so we’d get to appreciate the full role. There were queues and so many kits to get through, but you just roll up your sleeves and get on with it.” Kate reflects on the challenge. ”I wanted to do something that would make a difference. I learnt so much and I appreciate what clinical staff do every day. But at the end you get a real buzz from being part of something much bigger.”
Community physiotherapist Ronan Donohue joined the swabbing team
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