Coronavirus: Workers at NHS Nightingale using military techniques to protect mental health
NHS Nightingale was set up in east London for patients suffering from the coronavirus which is spreading around the world.
Saturday 18 April 2020 13:55, UK
Workers at the UK's first Nightingale hospital are using military techniques to protect their mental health.
Professor James Calder is a senior clinician at the NHS hospital, which was created in east London to take the strain off the region's other hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic.
Prof Calder, who had a 14-year military career, said the knowledge of veterans who have worked in challenging situations was very valuable.
The 52-year-old from Winchester said many staff at the hospital were working "pretty exhausting" 12-hour shifts.
But they have borrowed a technique from military operations where each member of staff is paired with a buddy upon their arrival for a shift.
This means they can look out for each other as they go about their work.
He said: "If you have eyes with each other when you first go on a shift, you introduce yourselves, and speak to each other after the shift.
"If they get upset, have a difficult time with a patient or a death, they sit down and have a cup of tea. It worked very well in the past in the military and it's working very well here.
"We are using their knowledge over many years working with the military to produce a package that is safe for our staff."
The temporary facility was built with the help of the military in just nine days at the ExCeL Centre in east London, and has a potential maximum of 4,000 beds.
Those admitted to the hospital will already be on a ventilator and will remain there until their treatment is finished.
NHS England would not say how many patients are currently being cared for at the hospital.
Prof Calder said he had been "suspicious" about the ability to "deliver" service at the hospital but had since been overwhelmed by its success.
"When we turned up here for the first time we said: 'Wow - this is a big empty space, it's got water, it's got electricity, it's got a roof, and nobody's shooting at you.'
"So actually this is achievable - that's not necessarily the case in other theatres we've been working in.
"Being a clinician, it's been incredibly impressive looking at how a very effective, high quality intensive care unit has been set up in - effectively - a warehouse."
Captain Carol Betteridge ran the field hospital at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province during the British presence in Afghanistan and now works for military charity Help for Heroes.
She said: "There are some really good NHS guidelines (on looking after staff) but we found in the military that no one thing works for everybody.
"We looked at our experiences with the veterans through traumatic experiences and developed an online field guide to self care.
"Because the veterans have co-produced that, we know that these are things that have worked for them and we hope for NHS staff."