Anam's story

Anam Hussain
Portering supervisor

“One of our duties is to transfer specimens from the wards to the labs. When the first COVID-19 swabs came up no one wanted to do it. There was a lot of fear.

We didn’t know what COVID-19 was. We had seen the security, the hazmat suits when the first cases were admitted to the High Consequence Infectious Diseases Unit. It was scary.

Then a colleague, who had worked in a hospital treating Ebola patients, said he’d do it. He stepped up, and once he did, everyone did.

It was the same from the start. People were scared. We were in the belly of the beast. We were given guidance but it kept changing, almost daily. One day, it changed 3 times. We had to wear a mask in that area, but not in this one. There was a lot of confusion.

We called the head of infection control to come and talk to us. That was helpful. He explained that because we are usually behind patients, pushing them in a wheel chair, there is a lower risk of catching the virus.

Then a few weeks into the pandemic we were told to wear full PPE in all areas. That was a relief. Everyone accepted it. It eased the fear. Now we knew what we were doing – there was no confusion.

I was worried initially. I live at home with my mother who is elderly and vulnerable. I was concerned I might go home and infect someone. I used to change my clothes in a shed outside before I went into the house. I know others who were doing the same.

There are 130 porters who work on the St Thomas’ site. People still had concerns so we brought in a psychologist. She was really good. She came 4 times a week initially, meeting groups or one to one. That was very helpful.

We made sure we had enough PPE for all the staff. They had to be shown how to put it on and take it off – we got pictographs that went through the process stage by stage. We got used to it.

The hospital was quite eerie because half of it was closed – outpatients and clinics and non-COVID wards were all shut. Going home in the evening was like walking through a disaster movie – no one on the streets, restaurants closed. I live in Stockwell and I used to walk if it was a nice evening or take the bus. 

One of the toughest things was removing the deceased patients. It is part of our duties but when there are a lot of deaths it has an impact. They created extra mortuary space. I don’t know if it was needed but that does have an effect on people.

We did a risk assessment for all our staff. It was triggered by concerns that BAME staff were more vulnerable. In fact, none of our staff got COVID-19. Some were shielding. But people wanted to come to work. We have bank (casual) staff who didn’t have to come in – but they still did. Everyone wanted to pitch in and help.

If we all went off how was the hospital going to run? This was a virus that affected everyone. It could have been your wife, your mother – if we didn’t do the work who was going to do it? There was that spirit about.

I am proud of the way the team pitched in and of the way we handled it. We brought in the infection control team and the psychologist to alleviate people’s fears. And it worked, they were very helpful.

I enjoy what I do and I’m proud of it. I wanted to be in the hospital and I wanted to go on working. I would rather the pandemic had not happened. But it did happen and you just have to get on with it.“