WATCH: Short films showcase NHS Lothian staff's COVID diaries

A series of short films are showing the lives of NHS Lothian workers involved in the frontline fight against coronavirus.

Around a dozen staff members are featured - telling their stories about the early stages of the pandemic.

Among them are a pharmacist involved in the COVID-19 vaccine trial, and the ICU team at Western General Hospital in Edinburgh.

Maria is a staff nurse at the hospital. She said: "One of my patients started to crying a few weeks ago as I was taking their blood. They had not been touched by another human in weeks. Nursing is so hard sometimes. A bad day at work means watching people's lives shatter."

Another NHS workers features in the documentary series is Sarah-Jane Robinson, a sign language interpreter who's struggled with face coverings. She said: Masks are a massive barrier, not only for the deaf community, but for health professionals. You can't see if somebody's smiling. You can't see if someone's talking.

"I have adapted a lot with it. If the patient's made a joke and the doctor's giggling, then I'll just sign 'giggling' whereas before you wouldn't need to do that. Hearing the doctors through the masks is a big challenge for me."

And speaking about the highs and lows of working during this stressful time of the COVID crisis, she added: "We're there through life and death. It is difficult. It is part of the job, unfortunately. Something I use to cope with it, is having a bath. That helps me relax."

Edinburgh and Lothians Health Foundation’s Tonic Arts team launched the series of documentary style short films.

The project, entitled ‘Common Thread: NHS Voices in a Time of Crisis', gave staff the opportunity to tell their stories of what the lockdown was like for them, both personally and professionally.

Due to the limitations of social distancing, the workshops and filming were done remotely, working with filmmaker, Tomás Sheridan, to discuss stories and ideas and find creative solutions to help them tell their stories in the most impactful way.

Angela Gray, Arts, Participation and Engagement Manager for the Tonic Arts Programme, said: "The project was a great way to give NHS Lothian staff the opportunity to tell their stories from a whole range of perspectives.

"These short films are our way of celebrating the skills, dedication and creativity of the amazing staff across NHS Lothian and the fantastic work that they do every day.

"The stories told are all really different; some are funny, some are sad, and some are truly inspirational.

"They give you a real, personal insight into how staff were feeling as they dealt with one of the biggest global health crises of our lifetime.

Rita Rigg, a General Practitioner working in the COVID Triage Hub, filmed an abridged version of the diary she kept during her COVID-19 convalescence.

She said: "It was also hard at times, triggering fresh memories that I had not realised were so close to the surface.

"It did not take much reflection to feel transported back to the days spent in bed where it seemed like life hung on a thread, where every breath seemed a gift to be treasured, and so precarious.

"I used a ‘diary’ I had kept during my illness to record regularly how things were for me, as I saw, felt, and thought them to be.

"It was elements and moments in time from this story that I then used for the film. Tomás cleverly gleaned the salient moments, matched the mood with scenes to be photographed and recorded, that would capture the experience as a whole."

The short films will be distributed through Edinburgh and Lothians Health Foundation’s social media channels between October and December 2020.