COVID-19 at OUH - Two Years On

Staff were trained in donning and doffing PPE. Credit: Jon Lewis / Oxford Hospitals Charity 2021

Tuesday 4 February 2020 will always be remembered in the history of Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) as the day we cared for our first COVID-19 positive patient and, two years on, we are reflecting on a period of unprecedented challenges.  

In an email to all OUH staff today, Professor Sir Jonathan Montgomery, Trust Chair, and Dr Bruno Holthof, Chief Executive Officer, thanked staff for everything they have done over the last two years.

They said: "We would like to say a heartfelt thank you for everything that you have done every single day to provide the best possible care for our patients, demonstrating compassionate excellence in all that you do.

"Thank you for caring for not only the patients, families and carers who depend on you, but also each other in your teams and across divisions and departments.

"All the way through this difficult period, we have consistently heard stories of unity, professionalism, and excellence about our people – each and every single one of you has played an important part.

"This pandemic has been a major challenge, but it has also brought the best out of us, individually and collectively, and we are proud of the difference our people, clinical and non-clinical, have made in different ways."

Since the start of the pandemic, #OneTeamOneOUH has cared for more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients and administered close to 60,000 vaccinations, most of which at the OCDEM vaccination hub on the Churchill Hospital site.

All our staff have their own individual stories about their moments of sadness and weakness, joys and laughter, and those times when hope and collective spirit brought people together.

Maude McDonald, Respiratory Staff Nurse at the Osler Respiratory Unit, said: "We felt really scared in the first few days as we didn't know what to expect, and we had a feeling that it was going to ramp up. We were scared for our families and friends, scared for our colleagues, and we had our PPE training in the days leading up to our first patient."

"It's been a massive learning curve – but we know we can fall back on our colleagues and how well we can work together."

Sally Manalac, a ward sister who worked in one of the COVID-19 wards at the John Radcliffe Hospital, said: "The holding force that I have used from then till now is hope. Hope that we can recover from this, that the pandemic will stop, that we all will learn how to live with COVID-19, and no matter what happens, we will stand and work together to fight COVID-19."

Oliver Smith, Lead Physiotherapist for Respiratory Medicine at the Osler Respiratory Unit, said: "I joined the Trust in June 2020, which was a very difficult timing given that we had just come out of the first wave of the pandemic. The team was still in 'pandemic mode' – we'd had people redeployed and weren't doing our 'usual' roles.

"From the experience of the pandemic, we as a wider multidisciplinary team (MDT) have become better integrated, and the respect everyone has for each other has definitely increased. The team works really well as a cohesive unit, and that's a result of all the hard work during COVID-19."