Doctor hopes appreciation for NHS continues post Covid

by LAUREN CODLING

AN A&E doctor has expressed hope the general public will continue to appreciate the NHS, as the Covid-19 crisis begins to ease.

Dr Gejen Kamalatharan, 30, works in emergency medicine (A&E) at Northwick Park Hospital, greater London. He has been on the frontline during the Covid-19 pandemic, treating countless patients who have suffered from coronavirus symptoms.

Reflecting on his 11 years working in the NHS, the doctor called the health services “one of – if not the greatest – asset that we have in the UK”.

In an interview with Eastern Eye, he spoke of the gratitude which people have shown the health services during the pandemic.

“One of the few good things that have come out of the Covid-19 crisis is that it has shown the nation’s appreciation for the NHS and I hope that that is something that carries on,” he said. “There is such a great sense of togetherness at the moment and once this pandemic is over, I wouldn’t want to lose that.”

Despite his love for his job and the NHS, Dr Kamalatharan admitted he had fears for its future. Calling it a “failing system”, the medic claimed that the services were heavily under resourced and many employees in the NHS were overworked.

“I am someone who genuinely loves work and I am a big advocate for (the NHS), but even I find it difficult to justify to people and say ‘you should consider coming into this career’,” the London-born doctor said. “It is hard working in a system which I think is failing, but hopefully after all of this, there is a bit more support for the NHS.”

Some of Dr Kamalatharan’s experiences during the coronavirus crisis have been challenging, he said. For instance, his natural instinct as a doctor is to immediately treat a patient who is very unwell. However, restrictions and certain protective guidelines means medics are unable to react in real time, and have to consider the safety of fellow colleagues and patients before they treat patients.

“If a patient has a cardiac arrest, for instance, a doctor’s instinct is to run in straight away and start treating,” he explained. “(Due to coronavirus) before you can do all of that, you have to consider your own life and the life of your team as well. Before going in, you need to don PPE (personal protective equipment) and that is what I have found to be most difficult.

“As much as you think about yourself, your instinct is always to manage the patient and make sure they are okay.”

He has also been in the position where he has had to make extremely difficult choices. When Covid-19 cases spiked and hospitals became overwhelmed, Dr Kamalatharan said doctors had to make “life-altering decision”.

“If an elderly patient were to get worsening symptoms and their prognosis wasn’t great, we were faced with going against our instincts to do everything we could,” he said. “We had to spread out the resources that we had and we had to have frank conversations with patients and families from an early stage.

“We had to make more drastic decisions very quickly.”

He described this Covid-19 crisis period as “emotionally draining” and “morbid”.

Many doctors had to be separated from their own families too, in order to halt the spread of Covid-19. Dr Kamalatharan, who has lost some extended family members to the infection, admitted it has had a psychological effect on staff.

“For people who had wives, children and grandparents…some doctors haven’t been able to see their families for months and that can be quite distressing and depressing,” he claimed.

However, he praised his team within the A&E department who he said have rallied together during tough times. There has been a collaborative effort to stay on top of everything, he added.

As Northwick is one of the busiest hospitals in London, the team also felt equipped to deal with a high intake of patients during the outbreak.

“We are already used to taking on such heavy numbers so I think we were able to adapt to Covid-19 better than probably some other places may have,” he noted.

The NHS will celebrate its 72th birthday at the weekend. Asked what the services mean to him, Dr Kamalatharan said he loves what it stands for.

“It is a great service for the public,” he said. “It is a privilege to have the NHS in this country."