Tortoise Profile picture
Jul 8, 2020 10 tweets 6 min read Read on X
Today we meet a diverse group of frontline staff at @uclh.

In this powerful collection of portraits, they share how the pandemic has impacted their work and their lives, with photographer @tompilston #TheReckoning

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“Humbled, exhausted – but fulfilled.”

Nathasha Chu, physiotherapist

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“This is busy, demanding and you have to be on the ball. But seeing a patient who you thought was in trouble walk out of the ward, that gives you great pride.”

Anthony Smith, patient support assistant

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“I can’t sleep. What if I catch it and bring it home? [My family] say ‘don’t go,’ but I have to go. We argue, and I am in tears on the bus. My best friend died of Covid-19 in three days.”

Josie Ednalig, caterer
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“When you are able to make a human corridor of applause for a patient who was supposed to die, it is something special. As one walked out, I couldn’t help thinking, ‘has her son put the dinner on?’”

Martelle Henry, nurse educator
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“I said no to staying at home. I’m feeling good helping those that need it.”

James Burton, porter who suffers from asthma
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“Now it is calmer, but when I walk through the wards I still see the faces of the patients from the peak. Some made it; others didn’t. I have flashbacks.”

Su Silwal, trainee nursing associate
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“I passed it on to my family. I felt so guilty.”

Uma Bhatta, deputy sister who contracted Covid-19
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“People are dying with no build up to death, no ability to have conversations and to say goodbye when they go into critical care. Even as a hardened professional, this has been difficult.”

Dr Jane Neerkin, palliative care consultant
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“Taking patients to the morgue changed how I look at life. It is precious and fragile – make the most of it.”

Gloria Serwaa, staff nurse
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More from @tortoise

Jul 3
Today we release our latest investigation.

Author Neil Gaiman has been accused of sexual assault by two former partners in the first claims of misconduct against him, and is the subject of a police complaint in New Zealand.

Listen:

🧵1/6 lnk.to/Master-Ep1
Gaiman’s account strongly denies any allegations of non-consensual sex with the women, and says New Zealand Police did not take up his offer of assistance.

2/6
New Zealand Police said their attempts to speak to "key people" are "ongoing", adding the "location of all parties” is a consideration.

Neil Gaiman left New Zealand at the end of February 2022.

3/6
Read 6 tweets
Oct 21, 2022
As the Conservative party begins the process of electing another leader – and therefore, a de facto election of the Prime Minister – here’s a summation of our application for judicial review on the way it elects its leader. 🧵⬇️
In August, Liz Truss was elected by a handful of the population – Conservative party members.

But nobody knows exactly who these people are – or how secure the process is. So we asked the Conservative Party to tell us.
We argued the public has a right to know for the following reasons:

1️⃣It is unrepresentative.

The membership accounts for around 0.2% of the population and includes non-UK citizens and under-age voters. There seems to be minimal checks on new members.
Read 13 tweets
Aug 30, 2022
This morning, we sent a letter to the Conservative Party to seek a Judicial Review of its conduct of the election of Party leader and the UK's next prime minister.

This is because we believe it is undemocratic and unlawful.

THREAD ⬇️🧵

torto.se/3wFpM2K
The process by which Conservative Party chooses the next PM is unrepresentative.

The membership accounts for little over 0.2% of the population and includes non-UK citizens and under-age voters.
It's unsafe. The Conservative Party provides no assurance as to how or if it checks voters are who they say they are.
Read 10 tweets
May 26, 2022
This is Emanuel Gomes.

He was a cleaner at the Ministry of Justice, working for £9.08 an hour, which was just above the legal minimum.

He continued to come into work during the early days of the lockdown.

He died on 23 April 2020.
Emanuel and his colleagues had petitioned their employer for occupational sick pay.

They pointed out that failing to guarantee workers a basic survival income if they fell ill would force potentially infectious people to leave home and endanger others.

But they were refused.
The day before Emanuel arrived for his shift, he had felt worse than ever; so unwell, in fact, that he could barely stand.

“I took him home on public transport,” recalls Bio Fara, a fellow night shift cleaner. “When we got to Victoria station, he didn’t even know where he was.”
Read 7 tweets
Jan 14, 2022
EXC: Downing Street has confirmed our story that Boris and Carrie Johnson made use of Chequers between 16th and 27th March 2020 – with the PM accused of moving between Chequers and London against government guidance.

In today's @tortoise Sensemaker 🧵👇

torto.se/3KcwItu
Between 16 and 27 March 2020, people were instructed not to visit second homes, and from 26 March 2020 they were legally prohibited from doing so.

torto.se/3KcwItu
At least one member of the Chequers staff caught the virus at the same time as the PM, entering isolation on the 28th March – a day after the PM tested positive for the virus himself.

torto.se/3KcwItu
Read 5 tweets
Sep 23, 2020
For many #Covid_19 patients, the worst thing about it is that for months after falling ill they still can’t think straight.

Today we’re trying to answer the key question of how Covid affects the brain (thread):
It’s possible that cognitive issues stem from any of the following:
a) the body’s inflammatory response going into overdrive
b) a lack of oxygen reaching the brain (hypoxia)
c) high levels of blood clotting
d) the experience of being on a ventilator
But an alternative explanation has also surfaced.

A Yale School of Medicine study showed evidence that Covid was crossing the blood-brain barrier and directly attacking brain cells. This could cause lifelong disorders without the right treatment.
Read 5 tweets

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