At a virtual meeting in Portsmouth, key workers are in tears. “This has been the worst half term of my entire career,” primary school teacher Helen Reeder says, her voice breaking. “I’ve given my being.
Some people have given their lives.” A senior staff nurse has sent in a letter telling how she has been “physically and emotionally overwhelmed” over the past year. “I dread every single shift,” she says. “Nurses are burning out fast.
We are weary and fearful. I have never felt so worthless and undervalued.” Firefighter Mark Chapman says his colleagues have gone from fighting fires “to being there in those last moments when those who lost their lives in the pandemic had only had a firefighter’s hand to hold”.