Sarah's story

Hello, my name is Sarah and I've been part of the COVID-19 swabbing team since March.

I usually work as healthcare assistant in the fracture clinic, but when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I started working out in the COVID swabbing bays full time. 

It was an unprecedented situation and although I was anxious about swabbing people who believed they may have had COVID, I saw it as an opportunity to step up and take part in diagnosing COVID patients. 

At the beginning of the pandemic, no-one, including myself really knew how long we were going to be in this situation, and I definitely couldn’t have predicted still swabbing people seven months after west Suffolk’s first case. When people drive up to the bays, they often look worried, so it’s important to reassure them and smile behind your mask, even if they cannot see it. 

Having worked in the fracture clinic and the emergency department years, I usually have to prepare for anything coming through the front doors. I definitely feel as if it’s helped build my resilience to withstand out of the ordinary situations. 

We’ve got a strong little unit of staff from all over the Trust swabbing patients. We’ve worked so hard over the past seven months, I definitely could not have done it without a supportive team who always try to make the best of a bad situation.