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Here, shattered staff from Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust ‑ one of London’s busiest, employing 9,000 people ‑ explain how the 18-month Covid crisis has affected them. And why colleagues who fell during the fight must never be forgotten.

Martine Rooney, 53, ICU matron

At the peak of the first wave of the pandemic, the trust was caring for more than 300 Covid-positive inpatients. Across our two intensive care units we increased the number of specialist beds from 17 to 60 to accommodate the high numbers of patients needing to be put on ventilators.

Caring for extremely sick and frightened patients each day and seeing so many people struggle took its toll on our staff. My role was to care for our critical care nurses as well as our patients. Normally in ICU the ratio is one nurse to one patient, but during the pandemic it was typical for one ICU nurse to be responsible for three or four.

At the end of a long shift, many nurses would be in tears due to sheer exhaustion. But all of us worked as a team to support one another. Even on our days off we’d be at the end of the phone in case the unit needed us to come in. 

Everyone pulled together for us too. This is what the NHS is all about. It is only right that we honour those who did not make it through.

Rebecca Bays, 37, lead critical care respiratory physiotherapist

Normally, I treat patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or pneumonia, but for the past year and a half it’s been mainly Covid patients.

It was a big shock at the beginning of the pandemic to see the sheer volume of people who were severely unwell. 

Patients were improving very slowly or not at all, which isn’t what we are used to. Respiratory physiotherapy is a key part in the recovery of Covid patients.

As they get better I start rehabilitation, which begins even when patients are sedated. The work was physically very draining as patients were so weak, and it would sometimes take three of us to help a patient sit on the edge of the bed.

Linda Machakaire, 48, head of midwifery

There hasn’t been a single member of staff in the NHS whose role has not been affected by Covid. We’ve seen NHS staff take on extra work, including many supporting colleagues in areas that are new to them.

As well as working in maternity, I have been supporting our vaccination programme.

The emotion and gratitude that people showed when they came and got their jab with us was incredibly moving. NHS staff are working hard to promote the vaccines and to keep people safe.

I’m delighted to be able to honour my fallen colleagues through this campaign. It is so important we remember those who have lost their lives to the pandemic.

Dr Ozioma Obi, 49, intensive care unit consultant

I am proud to be part of the NHS and have seen so many colleagues go the extra mile in the pandemic. I continue to find the resilience of everyone in the NHS truly inspirational. 

I work in a close-knit team and we have worked really hard to keep staff morale up and to support each other. All services have been affected by the pandemic. 

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Comment by Ben Travis

I am so pleased to see the development of this memorial paying tribute to NHS staff who lost their lives to Covid-19.

I could not be prouder of how everyone responded to the unprecedented circumstances.

We saw staff across the whole organisation going the extra mile and stepping up to care for our local communities when they needed it most.

Many people volunteered to work in different areas and help out and retired staff volunteered to come back to work. Everyone played a role in our response, whether in a frontline role or working behind the scenes.

Of course, we don’t work in isolation. We are so grateful for the incredible support we received from our partners and from local communities, which really kept us going.

There are too many people to thank in person, but I want everyone reading this to know your support continues to make a huge difference.

Finally, thank you to the NHS Memorial team and for the Daily Express for supporting this immensely important project.

Ben Travis is chief executive of Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

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