At 8pm on Thursday evenings I join in with many others on the streets to congratulate key workers in the fight against the Coronavirus as part of the ‘Clap for our Carers’. 

I openly admit that it makes me proud that we have such devoted NHS people. I also feel a sense of pride in myself, as my job is not too far away from what they do.

I have been working as a support worker in the health and care sector for over two years now and like many others who do it, I enjoy my job. I help support people with various disabilities and mental health problems, as well as underlying health issues. Basically, those who are vulnerable.

However, over the past couple of months, it hasn’t been without its challenges.

From little things, such as always carrying your ID card on the off chance you get stopped by the police, while worrying at the same time someone might mug you for it, just so they can skip the shopping queues or defy lockdown laws. 

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But there are also more anxiety-inducing concerns.

As urgent calls for more protective gear has gone up, I have frequently found myself asking similar sorts of questions – as a support worker, do I and my colleagues have enough and is it safe?

At the moment we use disposable gloves and, in some cases, disposable aprons, depending on personal care needs and recently we’ve had the introduction of face masks, which can get uncomfortable. We have enough for now, but there’s no real telling just how effective they are, so there’s always an underlying worry of how protected we really are from such a deadly virus.

There’s also the concern about what to do if one of our residents falls ill or a colleague has to self-isolate. On a couple of occasions this has happened with staff, which has affected two weeks’ worth of rota, as we make sure our residents don’t come into contact with them. There have been some moments where it has been touch-and-go and pretty stressful, but thankfully we worked through it.

The main question is how prepared we would be if any of our residents did display symptoms of Covid-19. Thankfully, this hasn’t happened yet, but I know other residencies have made rooms available specifically for self-isolation, should such an incident happen.

We also have to consider the impact the virus could have on the people we support were they to get it. Many have underlying health issues such as asthma or diabetes, which makes them more vulnerable to COVID-19.

As a support worker I have never experienced anything quite like this and it has caused some anxiety – especially whenever there’s a case reported by a staff member or you hear about residents at other care houses displaying symptoms. You can’t help but wonder if and when it will hit us – and whether we’re truly prepared.

At the end of the day when I finish my shift the only thing I want to do just unwind from it all. Even taking a shower when I get home has become part of the ritual now. Getting and feeling clean has become so important.

However, it isn’t all bad as lockdown has given us the time and opportunity to socialise with many of the people we support in their own houses along with their housemates. 

In these instances, social distancing goes out the window as we simply have to be up-close to our residents, whether we’re administering medication or doing personal care. We just have to make sure we’re as protected as possible. Some of our residents don’t quite understand the whole aspect of personal space either, which can be tricky but we all try our best.

However, many of the people who we support do have a level of understanding about the current situation and have taken the new changes well, which is really comforting.

During one shift I helped a resident to make their meal as well as have a really good chat with them; while another helped me to clean the kitchen and we did the dishes together after dinner. Later on, as the evening was drawing in, we all sat down and watched some TV, which was really nice.

Since lockdown we’ve had to think about things our residents can do to keep them occupied. I’ve been asked to help teach a couple of them art-based skills, as I’m pretty creative. It’s good to be able to help in other ways than I’m usually expected.

If anything, one of the things that the lockdown has done for both myself and my colleagues is helped us explore our creative sides and bring everyone they work with together. 

For all of us it’s about finding different ways to get us through lockdown until it ends and we can finally get back to business as usual.

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