72 years of the NHS: Richard Graham’s story
Surg Cdr Richard Graham is an NHS Trust Deputy Medical Director and Consultant Radiologist. As a Reservist, he is also a Royal Navy Radiologist who has twice been deployed to Afghanistan. Over the past few months, he has been supporting the Bristol Nightingale Hospital’s response to Covid-19. Read about his experience
In March 2020, I was asked to lead the medical response for my NHS Trust on a day-to-day basis for the Covid-19 outbreak. My military experience has been vital to dealing with this demanding situation.
My two tours of duty in Afghanistan on Op Herrick were quite similar to the Covid-19 emergency: everyone delivering healthcare was at risk, and we had to deliver medicine in a different way and to a different standard from the norm. As a former Commanding Officer of a Royal Naval Reserve Unit, I have gained experience in building teams, supporting in challenging circumstances and training. I have also learned a lot about military operational planning in my Reserve career.
At the beginning of the pandemic, I needed to make major changes to the way that the hospital was run. We had to change flows of patients so that those with respiratory symptoms and possible Covid-19 were separated from other patients, to prevent possible cross-infection and to manage the use of personal protective equipment. This took us about three days to complete — normally this would have taken six months!
We modelled demand and capacity for various Covid-19 scenarios and used this information to create the required bed capacity and test our preparedness with ventilator capacity, oxygen capacity and personal protective equipment supply.
I was also responsible for all medical staff Covid-19 redeployment and training. We had to collapse our normal wide range of specialities into about six that are required to look after patients with coronavirus, and so more training programs were needed. This included reverse mentoring by junior doctors of senior doctors to refresh their skill sets to care for patients on the wards, a role they don’t normally do.
Our hospital is now on a fully operational footing with a 24/7 rota in action. We are successfully treating patients with Covid-19, both on the wards and in the intensive care unit. I feel glad that my previous military experience has made supporting this complex task easier and more effective.
