Thanks to the Reading Agency and Warwickshire Libraries who sent me a copy of this book, which otherwise I would never have read. And I am so glad I did. Jim Down is a doctor on the Intensive Care Unit at University College Hospital in London and the book is the story of his experiences during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic March – May 2020. It builds from those first stories coming out of China that something extraordinary was happening through the first lockdown as the pandemic hit the UK and millions of people had to change their lifestyles and daily habits. Doctors, of course, had to change those habits for very different reasons and Jim Down describes his personal feelings as they had to start “donning and doffing” the full PPE for the first time and then change the nature of the hospital from one mainly dealing with the usual planned treatments and operations to dealing with the rising input of patients suffering from COVID-19 infection. What really struck me was how the situation was dealt with. As Jim describes in the book, when they needed to take over the operating theatres to change them into “pods” with all the necessary equipment, drugs and staff to treat COVID patients, they JUST DID. There were no budget meetings, no looking at whether this could or should be done, it was just done. Teams changed the space into working areas, others ordered ventilation equipment whilst still others recruited nurses, doctors and ancillaries and drew up the necessary rotas to ensure that the ratios of staff to patients were kept up. Jim Down uses real patients’ stories to illustrate what was going on as they discovered more about the disease and treatments, the tragedy of losing some and the joy of saving others and how that affected the hospital staff and the patients’ families. This is a must read and if you wondered why you were on your doorsteps clapping on a Thursday evening during this time, then your answers lie within.

Jim Down gives us a realistic insight into what it’s like working on a busy ICU ward during coronavirus pandemic. He has shown the stress that the medical staff have gone through and the heartbreak of the families in the ICU ward. The book is humorous and simple to understand for people who are not in the medical profession.

Down retells the urgency and panic of facing an unknown virus that induces the healthiest people into the sickest patients and readers are left marvelling at the professionalism shown by the stalwart NHS Staff during these hard times.

I am really glad that I read this book-the reading group I belong to was gifted copies via The Reading Agency in return for a review. It’s not a title I would have picked up-and I think quite a few people might feel the same but it was an interesting read and from its opening chapter, it really captured the path of the Pandemic. From not knowing much about the virus, how it spread and how to react to it in the early days to demonstrating how the NHS put protocols in place to handle the crisis, this is certainly an eye opening book. The ethics of the Pandemic, something I hadn’t considered, were fascinating and certainly made me think about the choices that had to be made on relatively little information early on. From thinking about the level and standards of care in the Nightingale hospitals, to where staff should be placed and what they should do made me think about an aspect of the Pandemic I previously hadn’t. I found the case studies of individuals hugely moving-both the individuals who were receiving treatment and the NHS staff. While this made it a difficult read, it also made it a powerful experience and an important book. It made me even more grateful to those who care for us when we are sick and I am in awe as I certainly could not have shown such resilience and bravery. I remain hugely grateful that I was able to stay safe at home during Lockdown. Jim Down really communicates the hopelessness and unknown of the early Pandemic when there was no vaccine and I found his use of the phrase “mourning normality” really hit home, especially as I read this as we seemingly emerge back to normality and learn to live with COVID. It also made me consider how those who live with chronic conditions faced the Pandemic and how their lives face barriers even in “normal” times. I would recommend this book to others, though appreciate it may be a difficult read for those impacted by COVID.

Jim Down has written a gripping, emotional and above all very honest account of the pandemic. His family is frequently mentioned, as are ‘beyond work’ interactions with his colleagues – all pointing to the one unassailable fact: that this pandemic was brought under control by people ‘just doing their job’, but in a way that was so very above and beyond that call of duty. For anyone suffering from social-distancing fatigue, or those taking the covid pandemic with a pinch of salt – read this book. It’s not a list of statistics, recycled news reports or government messages; it is a measured, intensely personal and gripping account of exactly what workers in the NHS have been doing for everyone in this country for the past year, and no doubt will continue to be called upon to do for us in times ahead. Personally, I hope it’ll be read by anyone taking part in the inquiries etc into covid in the coming months and years: it would form a key, first-hand source for the more personal side of the covid pandemic.