Molly Case put to words the feelings that are rife in NHS staff

Molly Case, a young nurse in training, put her thoughts and feelings about the current onslaught into a wonderful poem.

You can find the poem on YouTube (here) but here is a transcript of the poem:

A woman comes in
Too young to bear this
She’s got a disease that will make her miss
Her daughter’s wedding day
Her first grandchild being born
How would that feel to have all that torn away from you
I can’t answer that question
It’s not my place to say
But I can tell you what we did for her
How we helped her get through the day
A cup of tea there and one for all her family
As they came throughout the night
What a sight there were loads of them
To help her fight the awful pain of it
Paying last visits we wouldn’t let them miss it
Farewell from a brother
Last kisses with their mother
Holiest love
Love like no other
Maybe there’s bad ones no doubt that there are
But for this list I’m writing we don’t want the same tar brush
Crushing our careers before they’ve even started
How could you say this about people so big hearted
Who would have thought we’d be having to defend
We don’t do this for our families
We don’t do this for our friends
But for strangers because this is our vocation
And we’re sick and tired of being told we don’t do enough for this Nation
So listen to us
Hear us goddamn roar
You say that we’re not doing enough then we promise we’ll do more
This time
Next time
There’s nothing we can’t handle
Even if you bring us down
Show a scandal scandal scandal
You remember that man covered in burns head to toe
I don’t think you do
Because you’re on that TV show
Lip gloss kissed women on daytime TV
Come into our world
See things that we see
One lady passing had no relatives to stay
We sang her to sleep let angels carry her away
Were you there that day when we held her hand
Told her nothing would harm her that there was a higher plan
Saw her face as she remembered a face she once held
Saw her breath in the room as she finally exhaled
Why don’t you meet us come shake our hands
Try to fit it in between having tea with your friends
Your hands are so soft and mine are cracked
Why don’t you let us on air
Let us air the facts

We’ve washed and shrouded people that we’ve never known
Pinned flowers to the sheets and told them they are still not alone
Shown families to the faith room and watched them mourn their dead
Then got back to work bathed patients made beds
Hindus, Muslims, Jews and Sikhs
Buddhists and Christians and just people off the street
We’ve cared for them all and we love what we do
We don’t want to meddle we just want to show you
So listen to us
Hear us goddamn roar
You say we’re not doing enough
Then we promise we’ll do more