Hello, we’re Vernu and Aoife, two second year medical students who recently had the pleasure of volunteering at our local GP 
practice during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Over the past several weeks, we have been volunteering at the Elliott Hall Medical Centre, a GP practice (11,250 patients) local to us in London. They came up with the novel and amazing idea of establishing a support scheme in response to the coronavirus pandemic called the Patient HEROES project.
Student-led patient support
The programme was set up by a group of medical students in March, and paired up high or moderate risk patients with patient volunteers (aged 18-65 and felt to be a low risk) from the practice in order to receive help with grocery shopping, medication delivery and telephone companionship.
Over 1000 patients who would benefit most from remaining isolated (including a number who were “shielding”) were identified, and then the medical students would call each person to ascertain whether they would like support. Overwhelmingly, over 250 patients gratefully welcomed this offer with 181 ultimately linked one-on-one to a volunteer and the other 72 regularly contacted to check in.
Checking in on patients
We arrived at the practice at the end of June and were absolutely in awe of the success of the project and the dedication of everyone involved, something which we hadn’t heard of being done anywhere else. Our roles largely encompassed calling each recipient of the volunteer service to obtain feedback on their experiences and to gauge their ongoing needs as lockdown gradually lifted, as well as troubleshooting any queries which came up.
Making a real difference
Speaking to each person allowed us to hear first-hand how vital this project was and just how much the support was valued. For example, one individual recalled their volunteer surprising them with six two-litre bottles of water when the local water main burst and water supplies were turned off for several hours, whilst others felt they were ‘better than good’ because of their volunteer, and had developed a real friendship through the project.
Other feedback included someone feeling their volunteer deserved “more than 100% praise”, with one patient even calling for the scheme to get “national recognition”! Even if not specifically linked to one volunteer, many patients felt reassured just by knowing that someone was checking up on them and that support was there if their situation changed or a second wave came.
60% of patients reported to us that they would like the support to continue after the lockdown. This recognises that fact that those most needing the support were often also the most socially isolated. It also highlights the importance of the scheme continuing and developing in the long run to support these individuals. Seeing both how vital and successful this unique scheme has been, we would love to see it implemented in other general practices, something we would love to explore the possibility of coordinating in Edinburgh.
A typical day at the Elliott Hall
Each day is quite varied! We balance our time between following up with recipients of the patient HEROES scheme and helping out on reception.
The introduction of eConsults nationwide (an online form where patients describe why they want to see a GP, allowing triaging and more efficient telephone consultations) has meant the receptionists have been immensely busy lately as they convert patients to this way of working. They also have to fill the form out manually in more urgent situations or for those without internet access. We have therefore been helping to take calls from patients, which includes taking questions about medications, brief histories and booking in consultations. This has been beneficial for our medical knowledge, in both solidifying our history-taking abilities and allowing us to follow through with a patient’s care. We are in the process of developing a way to record the histories we take and to hypothesise a diagnosis which the doctors can then feedback on. We feel this may be a great way to develop diagnostic/clinical skills of medical students and could be further developed to help students at any stage of their medical education.
We are so grateful for the time each person has taken to explain things to us – from how to book in a patient to the anatomy and pathophysiology behind ophthalmic herpes zoster!
We also helped design a presentation about the achievements of the patient HEROES scheme so far – I have always had a bit of passion for design/art so was thrilled when Chris (one of the partners) gave us this task. With Aoife ‘coding’ (as she put it!) some very spectacular Powerpoint transitions and me designing infographics, it’s safe to say we were quite proud of our final piece.
Best friends and colleagues
“Vernu and I go a long way back!” Aoife explains.
“We have been best friends for nine years having gone through secondary school and then onto Edinburgh together (separating only enough to live in different flats!). Once we had completed our online exam, I was looking for a way to help out during the pandemic and wondered if any GP practices needed an extra pair of hands, so found Elliott Hall online and got in touch. Chris replied incredibly speedily detailing the patient HEROES scheme and the practice’s enthusiasm for student volunteers – coincidentally, three of the medical students involved at the start of the project had returned to their respective unis for exams, so it felt it was meant to be! Having always done medical work experience together from the UK to Poland to Sri Lanka, I knew this was the exact kind of opportunity Vernu had been looking for too and had to get her involved – she was every bit as keen as I was and joined the team the very next day. We were really blown away by just how welcoming every single person at the practice was and how much time they took to get to know us – there’s a real sense of family and we can’t speak highly enough of them!”
A weird few months away from Edinburgh
Aoife: “It’s been very odd to be suddenly living back home with my parents so intensely, especially with everyone trying to find their own space to work! And of course it was incredibly sad to have 2nd year end so abruptly and have to part with my flatmates, but I was very grateful for my family’s health in the midst of the pandemic. I never thought I’d say it, but I missed the library (well, mainly the coffee breaks) a lot throughout revision and struggled to self motivate at the start. I managed by a lot of Zoom calls to friends and going on long runs to break up my day (before realising my legs weren’t quite up to it!). I was incredibly relieved once we had made it through the exam and Vernu and I could reunite for socially distanced wine and yoga in the park – we realised it had been the longest period of time we had ever not seen each other!”
Vernu: “To be perfectly honest it was a real bummer coming home from uni as I felt we were missing the best bits of post exam freedom, drinks in the Meadows and the woodlands festival. The first few days back consisted of very little movement, clearing a week’s supply of Ben and Jerry’s in one day (I’m lying probably an hour). However I think after the initial slump I realised we were in for the long run so tried to make the most of the good weather. I can now say that I can run for 20 minutes in comparison to the one minute, I could manage at the start and have thrown myself into the world of plant based cooking. (Shoutout to my healthy student instagram page: vernu_eats!). Of course it helps to have Aoife just a five minute drive/20 minute run away (which I’ve now discovered)! So yeah although it’s had its downs we’re now definitely on an up making the most of our days with volunteering and then spending our weekends with friends!
