Trinity recently welcomed author and nurse, Anthea Allen; a Senior Sister in the Intensive Care Unit at St George’s hospital who dealt with COVID-19 on the front line of the NHS throughout the pandemic. She has written a book, a diary of her experiences, called ‘Life, Death and Biscuits’ and came to speak to our students about the book and being a nurse in the NHS.
Listening to Anthea proved especially useful for our medical applicants. One of these, Iman, in the Upper Sixth commented: “Anthea’s perspective of the pandemic was unique and instilled the idea that any action, no matter how small, can create such a great response. As a Medicine applicant, I also found it helpful to talk to her about what I could do over the summer and throughout Medical School to improve my skills as a Junior Doctor.”
Another student, Dionysios in the Lower Sixth agreed: “I thought the talk was very thought-provoking and was a really useful insight into what an ICU nurse working on the frontline during COVID-19 looked like, and the emotional impact on the staff at the intensive care units; as this wasn’t ever really mentioned in the news. It just goes to show how much hard and emotionally draining work was going on whilst we sat at home unknowing of the efforts at the Intensive Care Units.”
Mrs Beresford-Miller adds: “It was fascinating to listen to Anthea’s account of the last few years and to learn more about the NHS response to helping those most affected by COVID-19… We’re so grateful to her for taking time out of her busy working life to come and speak with us.”
"It was fascinating to listen to Anthea’s account of the last few years and to learn more about the NHS response to COVID-19."
Mrs Beresford-Miller
Scroll right to see more stories