‘Lessons from lockdown and the pandemic must be learnt’

On 23 March 2020, then UK prime minister Boris Johnson addressed the nation and announced the first national lockdown.

The Department of Health and Social Care had released figures that day showing 6,650 people had tested positive for Covid-19 and 335 patients had died.

“Their reflections are a powerful reminder of the need to learn lessons, so that nursing staff are never exposed in such a way again”

A look at the Nursing Times headlines from 23 March gives a snapshot of the situation, showing the fast pace of activity and growing concerns.

Efforts to ensure nurses had sufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) were being ramped up, according to the government, and the Army was helping deliver urgent PPE supplies to the front line.

But at the same time, fresh calls were made by the Royal College of Nursing to secure adequate PPE and for nurses to be prioritised for Covid-19 testing.

The International Council of Nurses had also issued a fresh warning on PPE following the deaths of nurses in Iran, Indonesia and Spain.

Meanwhile, additional beds, staff and intensive care equipment had been made available by private hospitals to support the NHS.

A deal was made between NHS England and the independent sector to allow for an additional 10,000 nurses to join the health service response.

Elsewhere, the union Unite called for trusts to abolish hospital car parking charges for NHS staff in England during the pandemic.

In addition, the first of a series of “rapid” clinical guidelines on Covid-19 were published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and the first patients were recruited for a clinical trial into potential drug treatments for Covid-19, run by Oxford University.

Fast-forward four years and Nursing Times is reflecting on the start of the first lockdown and what it meant for nurses.

Senior reporter Edd Church has spoken to a wide range of nurses across different specialties and settings about their memories of that difficult time.

Their reflections are a powerful reminder of the need to learn lessons, so that nursing staff are never exposed in such a way again. At the very least, the country owes that to its health and social care workforce.

• Our clinical section this month focuses on dealing with death, with articles on adapting end-of-life education, nurturing compassionate care and introducing a silent pause after a patient dies.