A young caregiver awarded the Queen’s Birthday Honors List for caring for patients who died alone during the pandemic says he felt “angry” at people for breaking COVID rules.
Alex Griffiths says measures to stop the spread of the virus should be followed “regardless of your political, economic or social position” and were for “improving everyone.”
The 22-year-old from Dudley, West Midlands, took the hand of an elderly patient and spoke to him when he died because COVID rules prevented the man’s family from going to bed.
Mr Griffiths, who is receiving a British Empire medal for NHS services, said he found it “difficult” to leave his shifts at Russells Hall Hospital during the coronavirus crisis because he knew some patients would not survive. during the night.
He told Sky News: “You would have reached the end of your shift and would have been exhausted for 12 and a half hours standing, running with PPE, but then you almost didn’t want to leave.
“I would hear about a patient who was there one evening and then was not there in the morning; there is someone else in that bed.
“It simply came to our notice then.
“You came in and you would have two or three new patients and you didn’t have to ask why, because unfortunately you knew why.”
Griffiths, one of the youngest winners on this year’s honor roll, has cared for her mother Sharon, who has had multiple sclerosis since she was five.
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Image: Mr Griffiths, 22, has received a medal from the British Empire
She began an apprenticeship as a clinical support worker at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley in September 2019, where she continued to assist in COVID wards.
The work involved end-of-life care, supporting seriously ill patients in what could be their last moments.
He said the relatives of the patients “were happy to know that there were people in the hospital who really cared”.
“That’s all you want at the end of the day – to take care of your family,” Griffiths added.
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On people who violated COVID rules during the pandemic, he said he had a “slightly angry” on social media after an “especially long and bad turn.”
He said, “I can understand why people did it because people were sick and tired; everyone was sick and tired of what was going on, but there was a purpose, there was a benefit.”
He added: “It doesn’t matter what your political, economic or social position is: at the end of the day we are all people, we are all in the same boat, this boat has holes and every time someone goes out and breaks the rules, it’s just adding more holes.
“No matter where you fit into the social ladder, the rules are there for a reason and it’s for the betterment of everyone, not just a few.”