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Coronavirus: Helping the bereaved with 'emotional PPE'
May 31, 2020
A few months ago, NHS England's medical director, Stephen Powis, stated: "If we can keep deaths below 20,000, we will have done very well in this epidemic."
At the time of writing this article, the figure stands at more than 37,000 people .
As a palliative care doctor, I have treated a number of people with Covid-19, some of whom have died, and I have also lost colleagues.
We have written and rewritten a huge amount of guidance and procedures, ranging from how best to manage agitation and breathlessness in Covid-19, to how best to prepare people for the worst and help them discuss treatment options.
What makes this time so difficult is that many of the usual rules of societal norm and behaviour have been thrown out of the proverbial window, due to the high risk that transmission of this virus has created.
We have had many discussions in hospitals, community and hospice settings, about how compassion can be combined with strict visiting rules, for instance. As caring health and social care professionals, it is against our nature to prevent loved-ones from coming in to support their seriously ill relatives.
Image copyright Mark Taubert Image caption Dr Mark Taubert works at Velindre NHS Trust and also teaches at Cardiff University
People have pleaded to be with their dying partner, even offering to find their own personal protective equipment (PPE) and accepting the risk should they contract the virus. Others have been understandably afraid of the very real transmission risks and have stayed away, with a broken heart.
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