One last pint of Guinness: tragic last request.Getty Images
With families unable to be with their loved ones as they die, frontline workers are doing their best to comfort patients in the final hours, in this case with one last pint of Guinness.
As the United Kingdom continues to battle with coronavirus in Manchester, one doctor shared the amazing lengths healthcare workers are going to give some comfort to dying patients, unable to see their families. In one case, this moving act of kindness was providing a gentleman with one last pint of Guinness.
While new cases of COVID-19 in the UK have fallen by almost a quarter hospital admissions are still rising. In Manchester, admissions have been rising fast, up to 140 a day over the past week.
Dr. Shondipon Laha, honorary secretary of the Intensive Care Society and a critical care consultant practicing in the North West, spoke to the Manchester Evening News about the dire situation and the stress placed on hospitals and staff.
One aspect of his story has now gone viral and he spoke about the tragic situation for families, patients, and frontline workers as COVID means many are dying alone.
“You have to talk to families via phone, or FaceTime. Increasingly that’s about stopping treatment where you think a patient is going to die - and it’s very hard to have these conversations with families. Nursing staff are having to do that on a daily basis," Dr. Laha said.
“We are frequently seeing patients where you’re holding their hands, playing the music they want to hear.
"One patient, over the weekend, we went to sort a pint of Guinness for him before he died. We think that’s as important as all the other stuff we do. But it’s emotionally draining.”
Currently, the United Kingdom stands as the fifth in the world in terms of the COVID virus. There are currently 3,433,493 cases of coronavirus in the UK and there have been 89,860 deaths.