A doctor and amateur photographer has shared intimate and illuminating images taken on the coronavirus front lines.

Karen Chui, an orthopaedic registrar at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, joined her intensive care unit colleagues to document the frontline during the second wave of the pandemic.

“When Covid admissions rose dramatically in December, the severity of the situation in critical care units across the country was understood by all NHS workers,” Karen explained.

Orthopaedic registrar Karen Chui joined ITU staff on the frontlines at Queens Hospital to document the second wave of the pandemic. Photo: BHRUT

Orthopaedic registrar Karen Chui joined ITU staff on the frontlines at Queen's Hospital to document the second wave of the pandemic. Photo: BHRUT

“The terrifying effects of Covid-19 rippled through every area of our hospitals.

“We could see how real this was, however, due to visiting restrictions, the public couldn’t. During the peak of the second wave when we were at our busiest, there was very little media presence allowed in hospitals. We’d invited ITV London into our ITU earlier in the pandemic, but at this time were unable to have them back.

A proning team working together to ‘prone’ a patient – lie them on their front to improve their breathing. Photo: Karen Chui

A proning team working together to ‘prone’ a patient – lie them on their front to improve their breathing. Photo: Karen Chui

“I felt we, and the public, were missing out by not being able to show the incredible work of our NHS colleagues against the challenges of the pandemic.”

A critical care nurse squeezes a bag of IV fluids to increase the flow for a patient whose blood pressure had dropped. Photo: Karen Chui

A critical care nurse squeezes a bag of IV fluids to increase the flow for a patient whose blood pressure had dropped. Photo: Karen Chui

Karen spent two days in the ITU at Queen’s Hospital, shortly after the peak of the second wave, documenting the hard work of her colleagues and the human impact of the virus.

A hysiotherapist works with an intubated patient. Photo: Karen Chui

A hysiotherapist works with an intubated patient. Photo: Karen Chui

“As an amateur photographer, who loves portrait photography and photojournalism, I wanted to capture this moment in time – the experiences and interactions of my colleagues with the Covid patients they were caring for,” she added.

“I hope, as we continue to move through measures to ease lockdown, these photographs commemorate the remarkable work of our staff during an unprecedented time, and capture the unique moment of this period in history.”

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