'Two nurses contacted me and they were really emotional because their patients couldn’t see their family before they die.'
Coronavirus has changed life as we know it, and with the country going into its fourth week of lockdown, extreme measures are being taken.
Schools have closed, non-essential workers have been sent home and leaving our houses has been limited to exercise and food shopping.
Exempt of course are the heroic nurses and doctors fighting on the front lines of COVID-19, working day and night and putting themselves in danger to save the lives of others.
You will have seen the calls for personal protective equipment after nurses have admitted to having to wash and re-wear their disposable masks due to lack of supplies. And there are countless petitions demanding NHS Front Line medics be tested for coronavirus to ensure their personal safety.
This month, there was another item that staff were asking for - mobile phones. And there’s an extremely important reason behind it.
A rapidly growing Facebook group, the NHS Kindness Wishlist, has prompted many donations, mainly tea, coffee, biscuits, hand sanitiser, toothbrushes - and as of recently, phones and tablets.
Due to social distancing and the restrictions that therefore must be enforced within hospitals, many people suffering from coronavirus have died without being able to speak to their family.
‘If they can get a tablet or a mobile phone, it allows people to speak to their family before they die,’ explained Sara Platt, the creator of the Facebook group. ‘We had an emergency request the other day. Two nurses contacted me and they were really emotional because their patients couldn’t see their family before they die. We put a post up and five tablets and five phones were sent the next day.’
Visit the NHS Kindness Wishlist for more information.
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