Bucks NHS Trust matron reflects after thanksgiving ceremony
Molly Chibvuri explains that the toll on NHS Staff cannot be underestimated
Last updated 12th Jul 2021
A Bucks Trust matron highlight toll on NHS staff after last weeks ceremony.
Molly Chivburi, Critical Care matron Sister on the intensive care unit (ICU) at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, attended the special service of “commemoration and thanksgiving” last week.
NHS England said staff would be placed “at the heart” of the socially distanced service in central London on July 5, which coincided with the 73rd anniversary of the foundation of the health service.
Scientists, vaccine champions and health bosses were among those in attendance, alongside frontline NHS staff, like Molly, who were specially invited to attend.
Molly explains that when she first got the invite she thought it wasn't real:
"Initially I thought it was a scam, I looked at the signatures and thought the person was really bold to forge such signatures.
"Then I got a reminder, and thought 'Oh there might be something in this'.
"But I wondered why they chose me. The NHS has over 1 million employees why me? Did they pick my name out of a hat and how big was that hat?
"I was resolved not to go into London, I hadn't been into London for 18 months but I found out I was the only one from my trust.
"So it was a moment of reckoning where I could represent not only my trust but the team that have given so much of themselves over this time."
Last Monday ahead of the service it was announced the the Queen had awarded the NHS with the George Cross.
The award comes in recognition of 73 years of dedicated service, including for the courageous efforts of healthcare workers across the country battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Molly, the award and the ceremony she attended allowed a time of reflection on the sacrifices the NHS staff have made:
"For everyone else the importance of the service in light of the pandemic was probably what they carried and will carry.
"For me, someone who has been on the front line in the first and second wave and throughout the pandemic it was a sobering moment of reflection.
"Not just the lives that have been lost because the pandemic, but the human cost of having cared through the pandemic to the healthcare staff.
"Maybe the reason I speak that way is because I am managing a team that has been so affected physically, mentally and emotionally from what is the most challenging time of our career.
"It feels like an out of body experience and I think the only thing I can put it down to is that human cost. Staff are struggling to put their lives back together. I witness that everyday with the team in my unit, people just can't cope.
"That cost to me, and the cost of bringing their lives back together, keeps weighing down on my mind and that was the poignant bit of the reflection for me."