Working on the front line during a pandemic to the moment of receiving the vaccine! A first-hand account from Kirsty Ranachan

May 5, 2021

Kirsty Ranachan is ENS Service Lead for Colchester, she has worked on the front line for the past year.

The main part of my role is to provide care to the people we support at ENS but I’m also service lead so am responsible for auditing staff and undertaking admin tasks such as updating care plans. I’ve worked full-time throughout the pandemic with alternative weekends off and when I’m not working, I also care for my mother who is in the high-risk category.

I realised the huge impact Covid would have as soon as we went into the first lockdown. Before that I thought the same as most people; that Covid felt quite far away and hadn’t reached us yet, if it would at all! Despite noticing the severity of Covid early on, again like many people I didn’t anticipate it would stick around for so long…

Working in care during the pandemic has had its challenges but many rewards too. The people I care for struggled to grasp the seriousness of Covid and found it hard to understand why all the things they enjoyed doing, like attending favourite clubs and socialising with friends, was no longer allowed. Due to health reasons some of them had been in hospital and already been away from the home and not socialising with people for several months. In some ways the lockdown and isolation therefore started much earlier for them and as a result hit them all the harder.

They felt we were keeping them in unnecessarily as they couldn’t understand why they weren’t able to go outside. Understandably, this led to some real frustrations on their part which were particularity challenging. We had to find ways to explain the severity of the virus and the situation by communicating that it was a completely new virus, these were germs no one had had before and so it was making people very sick and that’s why we all needed to be so careful and stay inside.

Covid completely changed everything for the people I support. Before Covid we were straight out the door doing a variety of fun activities, like attending a group, watching a film, or shopping. As this was no longer an option, we had to be creative and find alternative things to do inside. We tried to incorporate housework and activities such as rock painting, going for a walk, jigsaws, or baking into the structure of the day, as structure is vital. This had a positive effect as it helped the people I support become a little bit more independent.

Working in a care role I’ve had to think about Covid risks on a daily basis more than most. It’s not just about my own safety, I am always thinking I might be putting the people I support at risk. I was incredibly cautious every time I went to the shops as I knew that if I caught Covid, every time I went to work, I could put vulnerable people at risk. I always ensured I had full PPE for everyone and was cleaning things constantly, every single shopping item that came in the house!

I always felt very safe with ENS as we had plenty of PPE and enhanced covid measures which made me feel protected at work but wearing PPE brought about other challenges. Some of the people we support struggled to recognise us at first. For example, if someone had a team of three people with blonde hair on rotation it was hard for them to work out which support worker it was initially. We would of course always say who we were straight away, so they knew but I noticed people looking at you longer trying to work out who you were behind the facemask. I would try to show as much expression with my face as I could such as smiling wide with my eyes, so they felt reassured, and the tone of your voice put people at ease too.

Being able to work and support people in their homes has been a huge source of motivation for me during the pandemic. Seeing the people I support learn and love new activities has been a huge boost! The good days at work have helped me, helping my clients maintain a sense of normality, knowing that you are keeping those people going with their lives has been very fulfilling and hugely rewarding.

My tip to any care staff would be take each day at a time. Shrug off the bad days, as the good days could be tomorrow. One day can be hard and challenging but the next can be fun and rewarding. Although it has been a challenging year, my colleagues and I have always been there for each other. That’s one of the best things about care, you’re all in it together and know what each other is going through.

I’ve definitely come away from working on the frontline over the past year with a different perspective and appreciation of things. In particular, the little things we’ve all perhaps taken for granted, like popping to the shops or having a nice lunch somewhere with the people I support.

Having now received both doses of my vaccine I can breathe a huge sigh of relief, as I no longer feel I have to worry quite as much about passing on Covid. After a year of adapting to the ‘new normal’ with the people I support I think we will now face new challenges as lockdown eases. The people we care for are now happy staying in and no longer want to go outside, so we now need to tackle getting them back outside! The benefits of them socialising and taking part in activities is huge so it is a challenge that we are definitely happy to take on and overcome!

If you would like to learn more about our full range of Care and Support services, our friendly team are always happy to help. Ring 01702 361405 or email [email protected] to learn more.