Covid: NHS nurse photographs ‘realities’ of ICU ward

An intensive care nurse has photographed her colleagues' work to bridge a "growing divide" between the public perception and reality of life on the front line of the pandemic.

Emily Gilhespy, from Bristol, works in a hospital in the north west of England, keeping ventilated and sedated Covid patients alive.

She said: "This is a moment in history we will consistently look back on.

"I wanted to find a way I could form a window into what we were living."

The 28-year-old began documenting her experience in March last year, shortly after the pandemic began in the UK.

"I saw a growing gap, a divide, between the public perception and lived realities of healthcare workers," Ms Gilhespy said.

"How do you explain intensive care anyway to a non-healthcare person, let alone in the context of Covid?"

She added the photos have been used by colleagues to show family members to say "this is what I do, this is what I'm going through".

Ms Gilhespy said that one image of her friend, Tash, where she was smiling showed the "resilience and positivity" that healthcare staff have to carry on with their job, despite being exhausted and "feeling like there is no end to this".

"We are potentially working in the most challenging situation, the most pressure we've ever been under, but healthcare workers can still smile, can still retain that degree of positivity despite this chaos," she said.

Ms Gilhespy said unprecedented hospital admissions mean being in an intensive care ward is still the only way to fully understand the gravity of the pandemic.

"My photographs can only supply a snapshot, I don't think you can ever fully convey what it's like to be in ICU at the moment," she added.

"It's been difficult but it's something to be proud of in many ways… healthcare staff have been resilient and really stood up to this pandemic."

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