BACK in March when graphic news images started to come out of the hardest-hit hospital in Italy, the world watched on in horror.

The grim footage, filmed by Sky News in Bergamo, was a stark warning to the rest of Europe of the devastation COVID-19 could cause if left unchecked.

It was only a few days later that the UK went into lockdown, something that had seemed unimaginable in the early days of this crisis.

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Fast forward six weeks and more than 30,000 people across the country have died after contracting the disease.

The UK now has the highest death toll in Europe and the second highest in the world behind the US, although Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at PMQs this week that making international comparisons at this stage is “difficult”.

While this is true, the figures cannot be dismissed neither.

St Helens Star: Testing pods have been set up at Whiston Hospital since the beginning of the outbreakTesting pods have been set up at Whiston Hospital since the beginning of the outbreak

Opposition parties have called for serious questions to be answered about the government’s response to the pandemic and there are calls for a public inquiry to follow the crisis.

However, if the primary aim of the lockdown was to protect the NHS from being overwhelmed and collapsing under the sheer volume of admissions, then it appears as though the government achieved this.

Locally, more than 200 people were admitted to Whiston Hospital at its peak, with significant numbers succumbing to COVID-19.

But despite the monumental challenge it has been, the situation never quite reached the levels seen in the worst-hit areas in Italy.

Rowan Pritchard Jones, medical director at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (STHK), said: “What happened in Italy is the rate that patients arrived at was huge and utterly overwhelming.

“You only had to see the news images of patients in corridors and makeshift wards. We’ve never reached that.

“Because of the lockdown that was put in place, particularly in the North West, it slowed things. London rose faster because it’s a denser city.

“So, we had similar numbers, but we flowed the rate of it with the lockdown that’s gone in place. We never felt that same sense of being utterly overwhelmed.

“We’ve never had to make the most agonising on decisions of having one ventilator and two patients. That has not happened.

“We’ve been able to treat every patient as an individual and offer them whatever care they might need and for that I’m most grateful.

“We were modelling up to numbers far higher than we’ve ever reached and the fact we’ve not had to do that, I would take that every day of the week.

“It’s been a different experience to Italy for sure.”

St Helens Star: Rowan Pritchard Jones, medical director at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Rowan Pritchard Jones, medical director at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (Image: Influential)

Mr Pritchard Jones said staff have been “physically and emotionally exhausted” by the events of the past few weeks.

The brave heroes on the frontline have worked longer, had changing shift patterns, with many having to work in different ways to their usual roles.

It has been an incredibly testing time, and things got even worse when staff were dealt a crushing blow after one of their own was cruelly taken from them.

Sadeq Elhowsh, 58, was a popular and deeply respected surgeon who had spent more than 17 years working for the trust.

He died on April 20.

The response to his passing was incredibly moving, with staff lining up outside Whiston Hospital to applaud Sadeq, as his hearse drove past.

There is no doubt losing one of their own took a heavy toll on an already drained workforce.

But when times got tough, the SHKTH family turn to each other.

St Helens Star: Staff lined up outside to pay tribute to their colleague and dear friend Sadeq ElhowshStaff lined up outside to pay tribute to their colleague and dear friend Sadeq Elhowsh

Small gestures of kindness from the public have also given staff the boost they need to carry on doing what we cannot.

Mr Pritchard Jones said: “We’re a family here, and people have cared incredibly well for each other.

“But there’s no doubt it’s felt different and where we talk about compassion and care, there’s another word that’s in that mantra now, and that is courage, because staff have worked courageously through this.

“Anxious for their own safety, anxious for what they may take home to their families and that’s where our community’s been fantastic.

“Our nurses have been handed these hand-made bags to take uniforms home in, so they never have to mix with the rest of the family’s washing.

“It’s little things like that that go an awfully long way to make staff feel safer and that they can come into work the next day – because there are times when that feels really difficult.”

For the trust’s medical director, Sadeq’s passing was particularly hard to take.

St Helens Star: Sadeq Elhowsh was a dearly loved surgeon at the hospital trust and died last month after contracting coronavirus Sadeq Elhowsh was a dearly loved surgeon at the hospital trust and died last month after contracting coronavirus

Mr Pritchard Jones, who was appointed medical director in 2019, added: “There’s no doubt that the challenge of the death of one of our colleagues, when you’re the medical director you take it personally.

“You sign on the line for the job that means you’re responsible for everybody.

“But how lucky have I been? The team around me has been fabulous.

“My family around me here in the hospital have been superb.

“From both my managerial colleagues in this role down to individual consultants and other members of staff and nurses who have reflected back to me the words I’ve been saying to them in the last few weeks, which is ‘look out for each other, glance left and right every day and make sure people around you are ok because the only way we get through this is when we care for each other’.

“And I’ve had that care shown to me in bucketloads as well.”

If STHK is a real family, then the head of the family is undoubtedly chief executive Ann Marr – and she has never been prouder of the efforts and sacrifices staff have made throughout this crisis.

Ms Marr said: “In all my years at the trust, never before have I felt the need to express my admiration and heartfelt gratitude to our staff more than I do at this present time.

“It is eight weeks since we treated our first COVID-19 positive patient, and since then staff right across the trust have pulled together, looked out for each other, and continued to put our patients first.

“This isn’t something new, this is the team spirit I have always been proud of, but it is something that in recent weeks has been exceptionally important and should never be taken for granted.

“The pace of change has been significant, but the tireless efforts of our staff to care for patients with dignity and kindness during this time has been nothing short of inspiring and truly exceptional.”

St Helens Star: Ann Marr, chief executive of St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Ann Marr, chief executive of St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Health chiefs at the trust now believe they have passed, what they are referring to as the “first peak”.

However, there are concerns a second surge could return, depending on how the government decides to ease the lockdown.

The Prime Minister is due to make an announcement of what this will look like on Sunday.

Mr Pritchard Jones said: “The expectation is, depending on how the government decides to take down the some of the lockdown measures, we may yet see another surge in cases.

“So, we keep an intensive care unit that is ready to respond, respiratory physicians who are ready to respond and crucially and A&E department that is staffed and ready to respond that.

“But we also want to balance that with bringing up those services.

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“It was a deck of cards that was relatively straightforward to knock down and create something in urgency to respond to the situation, but the complexity of putting it all back together is not to be underestimated because we must balance vulnerable patients out there who have down everything that was asked of them over the last few weeks to stay away, to bring them safely back into the hospital for the care that they need.

“And identify them and working with them and reassuring them that they’ll get all that they need from us.

“That’s the next big challenge.”