We have been taking a look at how people and businesses around the island are adapting to the enormous changes being brought about by the coronavirus.
The Emergency Department
Staff in the Emergency Department at Noble’s Hospital have been working ’25-hour days’ to make sure everything is prepared for an influx of patients over the coming weeks, according to ED consultant Dr Gareth Davies
He said: ’There has been a tremendous amount of work going on in the department and we obviously also still have all our day-to-day work continuing.
’We have set up a separate unit in the ED, the Covid Assessment and Treatment Unit (CATU).
’This is a redesign of an area adjacent to the ED which has seen the fracture clinic moved to an alternate location in the hospital and the MEDS service moved to the Palatine Group Practice.’
Mr Davies said: ’Obviously we are trying to get people to recognise the pressures on the service and that is really, really important.’
The first step for anyone who thinks they may have symptoms is to visit the new online triage page at www.gov.im/coronavirus where they will be asked to answer a series of questions. If their answers point to a possibility of infection, they will be invited to telephone the new Covid hotline number 111 for further advice.
Dr Davies said: ’This is now up and running. Primary care will be the MEDS service or other health providers.’
It is important that people follow this procedure so that the hospital’s resources only need to be used for more severe cases and Mr Davies went on: ’If people feel their severity of symptoms merits a 999 call, that is the ultimate safety net and, if they have respiratory problems, they will come into the new CATU unit where there is resuscitation equipment.’
Mr Davies added: ’We all recognise that this is not about now but about what is coming further down the line. In the UK hospitals are beginning to see attendances going through the roof.’
Staff who may have to be redeployed to the ED from other areas of the hospital as numbers increase have been receiving extra training to be ready for this.
Measures have also been put in place been to help keep the staff themselves safe.
’We are concerned as the seniors in the organisation. Their well-being and safety is very much in our hearts,’ Davies continued.
’We need to ensure that staff stay safe from an infection control point of view.’
He added that they are dealing with a situation that is constantly changing, not just daily but sometimes more than once a day.
But he adds: ’Everyone is a little apprehensive about what the future holds: we wouldn’t be human if we didn’t feel that. But we are all in good spirits and coping with the emergency measures and the constant change remarkably well.’
The small
business owner
In common with other small business owners, Ruth Bumfrey from hairdressing salon Tangles in Port Erin is worried about how they are going to get through the crisis, especially as they have a large number of older clients.
When we spoke to her last week, she said: ’It only started today and at the moment they’re only just advising older people to stay at home and today’s been OK but we have had four cancellations for tomorrow.
’Around 80 per cent of our business is over 70s and they will be scared. We’re doing what we need to do and just being careful.
’What we’re doing is asking anyone who comes in if they have any symptoms and then just sanitising everything the whole time, the chairs, the desk the door handles, everything.
’It’s terrifying to think what could happen - there’s so much uncertainty out there.’
For most of her clients there is also the social aspect: ’A lot of our customers know each other so they can catch up when they’re here. Sometimes it’s the only time they get out - they go and do their shopping, collect their pension and come here.’
The worried mum
Of course, all mums are worried at the moment but Joanne Crellin, from Douglas, has extra reasons for concern. Her baby son, Blay, has to travel to Liverpool on a regular basis for medical consultations and future operations.
Tests while Joanne was pregnant revealed that Blay had spina bifida. Joanne was sent to Belgium where surgeons performed ground-breaking surgery on Blay whilst he was still in the womb.
Although the outlook for Blay, who is now three months old, has improved immeasurably, he still has health problems that need to be dealt with. One of these is a foot deformity, talipedes, which is common in spina bifida babies and needs a cast plus an operation. He also has dislocated hips which will need future treatment.
We spoke to Joanne as she was on the boat, just waiting for it to sail, and she explained: ’This is our seventh week of going over for casting. Today is the last one for repositioning his feet then next week he has a tendon release operation so I can’t come back home to isolate.
’If this treatment stops, all the hard work so far of going over would go out the window as he would relapse.’
Joanne was taking Blay’s sister, Aalish, 3, with them and Isle of Man Patient Transfer had provided them with a cabin.
Joanne said: ’I think that’s really nice of them to do that. Blay is on the vulnerable list and this will keep him away from others. I can’t thank Patient Transfer enough and I truly feel they need some praise.’
The community charity
Southern Befrienders supports older people living in the south of the island who feel lonely and isolated, by providing regular one-to-one companionship by dedicated volunteer befrienders or in weekly social groups.
Scheme manager, Val Haslam, said: ’We have to safeguard the 160 older people we support and the 130 fantastic frontline volunteers who we need now more than ever.’
Val said: ’We have been dealing with a large number of calls from members and volunteers who have been alarmed by some of the things they have seen on the UK national news, not all of which is relevant to the Isle of Man.’
The charity has had to make a very difficult decision, as Val explained:
’We have to cancel all social events and face-to-face befriending. This has been a tough decision for us because the charity is all about alleviating social isolation, but it is the right decision.
’Instead we are asking our volunteers who are matched with members they visit regularly to phone them instead, weekly or more often if they can, just to keep in touch.
’We have also identified our most vulnerable members whether because of age, because of an underlying medical condition, or it could be that they don’t have any support locally.
’We have members with family all over the world, and we in the office will be keeping in contact with them and ringing them on a regular basis.
Val went on: ’We have had many people calling us with offers to walk dogs and do shopping, which is fantastic, but we are not yet sure what we are going to need in the future.
’So we are saying: "Please keep the offers coming, we are keeping a list in the office and when we know what we will need in a few weeks we will be able to call on you".’
The business traveller
Katherine Ellis is chief esexecutive of Boston which is based on the Isle of Man but also has offices in Malta and Dubai. Before the outbreak she and her colleagues would frequently travel between offices or to meet clients.
Katherine says: ’It feels like we are all navigating in uncharted waters at present. During these unprecedented times, the wellbeing of our staff across all our offices is our top priority. Without our people we don’t have a business, so we have taken various measures to adapt our working practices in light of the ever-changing position with COVID-19 and we will continue to do so as things evolve.
’In the last couple of weeks we have cancelled all face-to-face meetings with external parties and all business travel and instead we are communicating with our clients, our Malta and Dubai offices and intermediaries via video conference, email or telephone.
’Where possible our preference is video conference and we have been successfully using Microsoft Teams. If anything, we have increased our client communications in order to provide comfort and assistance to a global client base who require stability at this uncertain time.
’With the current global travel restrictions in place, we have cancelled all business travel and are strongly recommending that all our staff avoid non-essential personal travel.
’Fortunately, we have the luxury of a large office space and from last Monday we have been splitting into three teams in order to observe social distancing recommendations. Our home working team includes all staff which are classed as potentially vulnerable to the virus, or parents with young children who would need to work from home when schools close - they will all work remotely from home for the foreseeable future.
’Our teams in Malta and Dubai started working remotely last week as both of these jurisdictions are now in partial lockdown. We will continue to monitor developments and will consider moving to full home working for our Isle of Man staff as the situation develops.
’For us it’s really important to ensure that it is business as usual for our clients, we have the technology in place to do this and we are all working together to ensure this happens. We have a great team who will do everything they can to get the job done and team spirit remains incredibly strong, the whole Boston team can always be relied on in times of crisis.
’We continue to stay in contact with our clients by phone, email and video conferencing and are doing the same with our intermediaries and potential clients in order to progress new business and deal with new enquiries whilst travel restrictions are in place.
’The situation is not easy for anyone and we are lucky to be able to work remotely where required and continue to provide a great service to our clients while keeping our staff safe. During these very unusual and unsettling times, it is business as usual at Boston.’
The nursery
Elly Grounds and Charlotte Forfar took the decision on Monday, following the school closure announcement, to shut their business, Little Rascals, which runs two nurseries, in Castletown and Laxey.
They look after nearly 70 children from one year old to pre-school, and employ nine staff.
Even being told by government to close is no guarantee that their insurance will help.
They now face the prospect of having to lay off staff.
Elly said: ’We’ll have to help everyone work out how to claim the benefits government have just announced and Charlotte and I will be in the same boat. It’s going to put a lot of people out of business.’
She also voiced her concerns that it might take some time for her business to get back on its feetwhen the outbreak is finally over.
She said: ’I think it will take a long time because, after it, there’ll be a lot of fear surrounding putting children back into a nursery.’
The Carers
Crossroads supports around 400 families and carers around the island.
Chief executive Jackie Betteridge said: ’Our services are about visiting families and improving the lives of carers by giving them time to themselves and have a break from caring.
’Our services are currently continuing but some will be delivered in a different way to usual and some services may be reduced.
’For the time being our nursery remains open. We are assessing the situation on a regular basis and have put measures in place to keep the children well and safe. Our nursery team have said that they will continue to run nursery as long as it is safe to do so.’
Mrs Betteridge went on: ’We have just set up a dedicated helpline to give carers advice on coronavirus.
’This service will be available to answer any questions or concerns and carers have and signpost them to other services that will be able to help if we cannot.
’We will also be offering help and advice on self-isolation and social distancing for carers. However, we cannot offer any medical advice.’
The advice line phone number is 202197 or email [email protected]