Junior doctor thanks charity for housing medics working at St George’s Hospital during first wave of pandemic

A charity has been praised by a medic for supporting her hospital team during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Junior doctor Abigail Jamieson thanked the Ronald McDonald House in Tooting, which provides eight rooms of free accommodation for parents with children at St George’ Hospital in Tooting.

But after it had to close its doors to families in lockdown, Ronald McDonald was offered to newly-qualified doctors who were starting their careers at St George’s Hospital at the time.

The doctors were placed across various areas of the hospital, to free up more senior doctors to tend to patients with Covid-19.

Dr Abigail Jamieson said: “At the start of the year, I never would have imagined I would start my career working through a pandemic.

“I knew a bit about Ronald McDonald House Charities UK and their Houses after training at Brighton, and I was impressed that despite not being able to accommodate families safely in the Tooting House, the charity thought to help support the NHS by housing us so that we weren’t crippled by the demands of our work in hospital.

“At such a strange and stressful time, knowing I could go back to a safe and welcoming place was the best possible respite I could have had.

“Working during the pandemic was pretty emotional at times, but every time I returned to the House I knew I could relax and be supported, which made a massive difference to me.”

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Pictured top: Families at Ronald McDonald House