In the corridors and intensive care units of Kilmarnock’s University Hospital Crosshouse, staff are fatigued and stressed.
Coronavirus case rates may be falling across Scotland but the pressure on medical workers remains intense.
Crosshouse has been one of the busiest hospitals in Scotland during the second wave of the pandemic – its ICUs have been stretched to capacity for months.
There are currently 11 patients in the hospital’s 17-bed unit, a decrease of three in recent days and the first time in weeks that the number has reduced.
But staff remain just as busy as patients are staying in hospital longer – some for as many as two months.
Medics believe it will take several months before they see any reduction in their workload.
Gemma Blair, deputy charge nurse in the hospital’s intensive care unit, said the cracks were starting to show among staff who have been dealing with Covid patients for almost a year.
She said: “There are days in here when you feel that the ship has capsized and we are manically trying to get to the shore.
“I have seen what I would say are the strongest of my colleagues crying within the unit because it really is so tough. That’s really the important message to get across that it is still very busy and this is still happening in your local hospitals. “
