When the UK went into lockdown, hospitals and medical staff became completely overwhelmed with an influx of patients and demand for COVID19 testing. Despite this overwhelm, the team of consultant surgeons at St Marks have worked hard to prioritise patients who need urgent surgery and ensure they get the help they need.
This is the patients at St mark’s story of gratitude for consultant surgeon Mr Janindra Warusavitarne and his incredible team for prioritising their patients.
Teenager, Oliver, has ulcerative colitis, a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) which causes chronic inflammation in the colon. When Oliver needed urgent surgery early this year, he was concerned that the strain that COVID19 has but on medical staff would leave him unable to receive the care he needed.
However, Mr Janindra Warusavitarne, a consultant surgeon at St Mark’s Hospital performed surgery on Oliver during the first COVID19 surge. He says “My colleagues and I had to manage competing priorities during the pandemic so that we could continue to provide the best treatment to our patients, especially when the Hospital was overwhelmed.”
Ollie received the care he needed and is recovering well. In gratitude to his medical team and to help other patients, Ollie launched @thekidwiththebag campaign to raise awareness of bowel disease and living with a stoma bag. You can read Ollie’s story here on our platform.
Share Gratitude have been working with St Marks Hospital to share incredible stories of great people doing great things. Read more stories from St Marks here in their Covid19 memory flipbook and be sure to donate to their Just Giving page to support their seasonal appeal.
What are you grateful for? Say thank you the best way we know how, by sharing your story on sharegratitude.com