Wandsworth nurses take unpaid leave to treat Ebola patients in Congo
BY JAMES TWOMEY
james@slpmedia.co.uk
Two nurses who will treat people with Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have described it as an “amazing and humbling opportunity”.
The two nurses, Jess Joyce from Camberwell and Kirsty Metz from Southfields, work at the Royal Free Hospital in Camden.
They will be based in the large city of Goma, in the eastern part of the DRC, for six weeks.
There have recently been a few cases of Ebola in Goma and, in response, Medecins Sans Frontieres, an international humanitarian medical organisation of French origin, is scaling up its activities and has opened a 72-bed Ebola treatment unit.
Both nurses, who are taking unpaid leave to travel to the DRC, have previously done volunteer work at the port of Calais, and Jess has also volunteered in South Africa.
Jess said: “I am approaching this with a respectable amount of nervousness but you also need to keep a level of calmness.
“We know that we have the privilege of working somewhere where the majority of patients get to go home and we know that where we are going that may not always be the case and we need to mentally prepare ourselves for that.
“We know it will be tough and we know it’s not for everybody, but we are there to do our best and help as necessary.
“We talked about it as a team on the ward and we’ve had such incredible support from our colleagues and from the hospital leadership.
“Everyone from the domestic staff to the consultants has wished us well and the Royal Free Charity has also supported us with a grant, for which we are very grateful.”
According to the World Health Organisation the Ebola epidemic in the DRC has killed more than 2,000 people since the outbreak was declared in August 2018.
Kirsty said: “I wasn’t at the Royal Free Hospital when the patients with Ebola were treated here, so being able to gain expertise out in the field is invaluable.
“When I told my family and close friends what I was doing the reaction was mostly positive, but as the date got closer to leave people did start saying ‘are you sure?’”
On the nurses’ return to work they will not be allowed patient contact for 21 days.
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