What a glorious summer it has been and how wonderful for athletes all over the world to be able to come together and join in a well-organised and long-awaited Olympic Games. Tokyo certainly stepped up and even raised the bar by introducing new sports and a new generation of athletes to represent their countries. Team GB did not disappoint, coming home with 65 medals, equal to their achievements of 2012 (BBC News, 2021). The daily news of Team GB's success was a welcome respite from the COVID-19 negativity that has blighted life for the past 18 months.
When I saw the Olympic motto: Faster, Higher, Stronger—Together, I immediately thought about what we in the NHS have achieved over the past 18 months. COVID-19 hit us like a tsunami and after the horrific initial wave, we were able to pick ourselves up and provide care at a level this NHS has never seen before. The rapid production of a world class vaccine and the subsequent vaccination programme has put the UK at the forefront of medical achievements. This has been made possible by collaborating with other world-class teams, industry and healthcare systems of all shapes and sizes. But at what cost?
The reality is that the COVID-19 legacy includes a significant death toll in the UK, an exhausted workforce and delayed cancer diagnoses for patients and their families. There is no blame to be apportioned; simply put, we had to firefight and learn at the same time as put our own needs last to be able to concentrate on the enormous task that lay ahead. The shock and dread of the whole situation can never be forgotten, but the care we give to patients with COVID-19 is now embedded in our daily working lives. We are ‘learning to live with it’, but must not be complacent about the waves that could follow. We have a winter to get through with its own pressures, aside from any more coronavirus variants, which may present themselves.
The impact on nursing has been huge; the workforce had been down by 12% even before COVID-19 came along (Propper et al, 2020). Intensive care staff and those redeployed to ICU to bolster the numbers have suffered with stress and anxiety and continue to require support for their wellbeing and mental health. Many have also left the profession or retired. The impact of an increased workload and increased responsibility, as well as moral distress regarding treatment decisions, have contributed to the overwhelming anxiety felt by many. Guilt at not being able to see their own families or guilt at being individually too vulnerable to contribute as a nurse have left nurses feeling undervalued and forgotten.
“The flexibility of specialist nurses, who adapted to the ongoing situation … deserves high praise and recognition”
It is evident that patients have also suffered as a result of delayed access to diagnostics and treatments. Many patients stayed away from hospitals as they shielded but were actually symptomatic and fitted the criteria for a fast-track referral. Only now are we seeing the late presentations of bowel cancer for example, and patients with advanced and metastatic disease with limited treatment options. The subsequent impact on palliative care and other community services is unprecedented.
So how do we keep going and how do we continue to achieve success in light of all this? The Association of Stoma Care Nurses UK (ASCN UK) is planning a bigger virtual conference this year with input from manufacturing companies with virtual booths and a platform to showcase their products. The abstracts chosen show the wealth of success that has continued to be achieved throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and I am heartened to see such resilience and enthusiasm from clinical nurse specialists. The flexibility of specialist nurses, who adapted to the ongoing situation and maintained their services at a level expected, deserves high praise and recognition.
Let us put aside our political differences, cut ourselves some slack and focus on the future. Life won't be the same again but let's adapt, embrace innovation and strive for a better NHS.