Covid: what it's been like in Dorset hospitals during the pandemic

And while journalists in some parts of the country have found it difficult or impossible to get access, there has been no such problem in Bournemouth and Poole where hospital managers and medical staff have been more than willing to talk frankly of their experiences and struggles.

The Daily Echo has reported regularly from both hospitals - now together under the University Hospitals Trust.

We have written from many different aspects, not least during the toughest period in January when there were fears the hospitals could be overwhelmed.

There were some very dark days as the number of Covid patients rose relentlessly for weeks in that month.

• Read more: A year since Dorset's first Covid case - how we've coped with the pandemic here

Ambulances queued up outside the emergency departments.

The chief executive spoke openly about the immense pressure on staff and how some were suffering from PTSD.

Reflecting on the momentous year, deputy chief nursing officer Fiona Hoskins recalls hearing about the virus for the first time.

Fiona Hoskins 

"I look back to December 2019 when we received a communication from NHS England about a virus in Wuhan, China," said Fiona.

"We were thinking, well let's get the pandemic flu plan out, let's write a paper for the board to keep them informed.

"At that point it was really business as usual. From time to time, things pop up and we are made aware of things going on around the world that we take a look at - but it never really happens."

• Read more: Three things we've learnt after a year of Covid

But this time would be different.

"January came and January went and it wasn't until February when we saw on the news about the ski resort in Austria, that we started to think this was something more, out of the ordinary.

"Then quite quickly things ramped up, it went from the normal January to the extraordinary.

"By this time we were having meetings every day and looking very carefully at all the national advice and directives.

"We were building pods to deal with patients coming in from the community if they thought they might have been in contact with someone who had had the virus.

"It's funny looking back, it felt like really challenging time at that point, but given what we then went through and how we have changed so much of what we do, it was really just the tip of the iceberg."

Fiona said that April and May of 2020 were very difficult.

"Redesigning everything in the hospitals and changing the way we work was very new and that added a lot of stress. And in that first wave there was a sense that something was coming, that we needed to be prepared for it but not really knowing what lay ahead.

We were working quickly and under constant pressure for a long period of time and that was very challenging."

Compared with some parts of the country, the case numbers were relatively low in that first wave.

Even so, it was busy operationally stressful and "not nice."

• Read more: ‘I wish Covid rule breakers could see fears, frustrations and tears shed in our hospital’

Fiona believes many staff feel quite hopeful and positive at the moment.

"The fact that the case numbers in the community have dropped below the national average in a real positive for us.

"We are still operationally busy but we are beginning to switch services back on. It's exciting to be doing that and to begin to get a bit more normality back. We are a bit more hopeful about the future.

"It's important for us to think about our staff and their wellbeing and getting the recovery phase right because there is an ambition among all healthcare staff to get back to normal and do what's best for our patients.

"But staff are tired and there is still uncertainty I think because we have now had a number of waves."

• Read more: “People are traumatised. Some have post traumatic stress. Some are off sick and don’t want to come to work”

Fiona is full of gratitude and admiration for the help the hospitals have received from many quarters, from the Red Cross, community volunteers, the military and student nurses, to name just a few.

So many unsung heroes stepped forward.

If there is a positive to come from an awful year, from Fiona's perspective is a greater recognition amongst the public of the 'amazing' work that goes on in healthcare and that more people will be encouraged to choose it in one as a career.

"I really hope that will be a positive change, that healthcare is going to be seen very differently nationally by society.

"From my point of view I would like to see more people sign up as nurses because that will enable us to give exceptional care and is what we are all here to do.

"This last year has been phenomenal, I am proud to have worked through it, I am proud of what I have achieved and I am proud of what our teams have achieved."