As specialist heart and lung centre, teams at the Trust were at the forefront of the national response to COVID-19. During the course of the pandemic, we treated and saved the lives of hundreds of critically ill patients – with most of them transferred to us from intensive care units across London and Southern England.
When the pandemic began, we were called upon to triple our critical care capacity to accommodate just under 100 ventilated patients in a matter of days. As one of only five adult extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) centres in England, we supported up to 28 patients on ECMO (a form of life support) at any one time, making our Trust’s caseload among the highest in Europe.
Many of our staff took on new and challenging roles, and our teams used their exceptional abilities to introduce new innovations and ways of working to help us meet the demand for services.
Teams at Harefield also played a major role in maintaining essential cardiac services in London, as one of only two designated emergency cardiac surgical centres in the capital.
Our dedicated staff were overwhelmed by the support they received from our charities, external organisations, volunteers, celebrities and even royalty. Their acts of kindness helped us get through the pandemic.
The insights from our research projects (see Research highlights), the swift introduction of COVID-19 testing and, more recently, the vaccination programme, give us hope for the future.
I always describe the situation in the first wave as being like the beginning of a disaster movie when the principal actor is wandering around knowing that something bad is happening while everyone else around them is just carrying on as usual. We were planning for the pandemic in February 2020, but I remember walking in the King’s Road near the Royal Brompton just thinking everyone is just carrying on as normal, no-one knows what’s coming.”
Lorraine Campbell, Lead nurse and associate hospital director
Discover more:
Taking on new responsibilities to fight COVID-19
Caring for patients with COVID-19 was a challenge unlike any other of recent times. To look after more critically ill patients, our hospitals were reconfigured in a matter of weeks and staff asked to embrace new ways of working. Read more
From the frontline: Beccy Lytton, paediatric intensive care matron, redeployed to adult intensive care
Beccy Lytton, Royal Brompton deputy matron on the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU), was redeployed to the adult intensive care unit (AICU) during the pandemic. She shares what it was like treating adults after 23 years of being a paediatric nurse. Read more
From the frontline: Laura Davis, clinical nurse specialist, redeployed to intensive care
Clinical nurse specialist in familial hypercholesterolaemia, Laura Davis, was redeployed to the intensive therapy unit (ITU) at Harefield during the pandemic. She shares her story about what it was like working in full personal protective equipment (PPE). Read more
From the frontline: Louise Croft, Macmillan lung nurse specialist, redeployed to help look after COVID-19 patients
“My entire face would be sore every day because of the PPE – nothing felt comfortable. I’d be counting down the hours till each shift was over...“ Read more
Staff volunteers step in to help run new family liaison service
The sudden rise in COVID-19 patients being transferred from other hospitals for specialist treatment prompted a flood of phone calls from relatives, desperate for news about their loved ones. Read more
Volunteers helped us make our own PPE
In response to a shortage of surgical gowns across the country at the start of the pandemic, our clinicians took matters into their own hands and developed a blueprint which could be made from operating theatre drapes. Read more
Innovations transforming the way we work
Our dedicated staff rolled out an astonishing number of new initiatives to keep services running for patients during the pandemic. Read more
Trust estate’s team produces 1,500 visors
When our hospitals began to run perilously short of protective face visors for frontline staff, the estates team rose to the challenge manufacturing 1,500 visors over the course of a weekend. Read more
Providing life-saving surgery during the pandemic: the Cardiac Hub
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Harefield Hospital was designated one of only two hospitals in London to perform emergency cardiac (heart) surgery. Read more
Care for transplant patients
Teams at Harefield’s transplant unit continued surgery throughout the pandemic. Normally 40 to 50 lung transplants are carried out each year, and between 25 and 30 heart transplants. Over the past year, focusing on patients with the very greatest need, the teams still transplanted 25 lungs and 13 hearts. Read more
Aircrew flew in to help staff on the frontline
Two ‘first class lounges’ run by aircrew provided a space for staff in need of respite to relax, away from the stresses of the frontline. Read more
A patient's view: Maureen Clements, senior nurse at Northwick Park Hospital in Middlesex and COVID-19 patient at Harefield Hospital
Senior nurse Maureen Clements was admitted to Harefield Hospital with respiratory failure as a result of contracting COVID-19. Read more
A patient's view: Royal Brompton patient Sam McQueen speaks about his COVID-19 ‘journey'
COVID-19 patient Sam McQueen was transferred to Royal Brompton from Northwick Park Hospital on 22 March 2020 with severe COVID-19 related lung disease. Read more
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