Working during Covid-19

This painting of James was requested by his wife as part of the #nhsportraitforheroes series. Nishani described James as a very popular Consultant Anaesthetist from the Queen Alexander Hospital in Portsmouth, who continues to work extremely hard under the daily stresses of the Covid outbreak. He is a joker, with a naughty glint in his eye, but conversely, he doesn’t like to be the centre of attention. 

This, combined with his loyalty, means he has lots of close friends and is adored by his family. His other big loves are his two pedigree dogs and his loud shirts so both really had to be part of his painting and I chose to paint images of his dogs into his shirt design.

Painting James as a surprise for this project was a great challenge - to capture his look and personality and also to acknowledge him for his dedication to the NHS throughout the demands of this pandemic. I chose not to rush the project through, giving time in between sessions for the layers of oil to dry and to work on getting the real essence of James’ personality to show though.

I am a Consultant Anaesthetist who was deployed to work in Intensive Care as well as operating theatres, during the Covid pandemic, at the largest DGH in the country, Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth.

The whole period has been hard both physically and mentally with dramatic changes to normal working practices needed. There have been some very sad stories that have come out of this period, but at the same time a collective sense of achievement, teamwork and camaraderie which has made it more bearable. Steph’s portrait epitomises the kindness and generosity that has been shown by many people in all areas of life during the pandemic.  

To be honest, I was totally overwhelmed and amazed by the portrait that Steph painted. My family had arranged it as a surprise. It was such a morale boost. Her remarkable skill and talent to paint such a likeness of me was staggering. Steph’s generosity, using her talent to recognise me in this way was so gracious and kind, and will be forever appreciated.

I received the portrait on the day we gave the last Coronavirus patient on Intensive Care an anaesthetic for a procedure to help with his breathing. It had been tiring and to come home to such an exquisite gift was unbelievable, fantastic and awe inspiring. It will be treasured by our family.

I had seen a few posts on social media about portraits for NHS heroes and thought about my amazing colleague and friend Ellie, who is also an artist and wondered if she would do a portrait for me...little did I know she had already nominated me to Anna as a surprise.

It’s been a huge learning curve and had its ups and downs! I caught covid at work early on but didn’t realise what it was at the time! As more information became known about the pandemic I was advised to work from home due to my medical history...as someone who thrives on human interaction and loves my job, it was pretty heartbreaking to be told I wouldn’t be able to see my patients and support them in person. 

I felt conflicted between my own health, following medical advice and feeling like I was letting my colleagues and patients down. I have worked from home for 3.5 months helping organise the antenatal clinics and doing antenatal telephone reviews; it’s been a new way of working but I’m so grateful I could help women and reassure them during such an uncertain time. Working in the NHS is not often easy, but you meet such fantastic people and there really is nothing like it!

I burst into happy tears! I was so surprised and the caption made me cry. 
Anna is so talented and I felt so privileged to have been nominated and chosen. My portrait sits at my desk and reminds me to look for the positives during the Pandemic. Thank you Anna!