The Intensive Care team at Southport hospital has been shortlisted for a Nursing Times award, thanks to the innovative ways team members worked during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Due to the pandemic, visiting this unit, which cares for the most seriously sick patients, has been impossible since March. This has been extremely challenging and upsetting for patients and families, and this inspired frustrated staff to find innovative solution.

One of their ideas was to create a short video of the unit, so that families could more easily visualise the situation their loved ones were in.

Matron for ICU Angie Westwood explains: “In more normal times, we pride ourselves on holding the hands, literally and emotionally, of our patients’ families during their stay here. The environment is very different to other areas of the hospital and this can be frightening, but we know how to support people through this. When visiting had to stop, we had to think and act quickly to find new ways to support people.

“We created this video so that families could at least picture where their loved ones were being treated. We also made sure daily video calls happened, we updated families over the phone three times a day, and brought in extra measures for palliative patients. This included bereavement boxes which we hand-delivered to families, including a card written by the staff member who stayed with their loved one until they sadly died.

“I am immensely proud of every single person who worked in this unit over the last few months. Each one had to put their own concerns and worries aside, working tirelessly in the most challenging circumstances that any of us have ever experienced. I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to each one of them, and say how much I think they deserve to win this award.”