Workers who are anonymous, but who are vital to the NHS

I hope you will find space to print my letter in connection with the COVID-19 outbreak.

Along with all of the key workers and front line services that are so deserving of mention, and who we applaud each Thursday evening, there are others that unfortunately remain anonymous yet are vital to the purpose of the NHS, and others still, beyond the NHS, who underpin the civilised standards of our everyday life.

One such former group are the expert and dedicated managers, technicians, craft persons and supporting staff who provide the 24 hour cover to maintain a hospital’s essential engineering and building services.

These are the people, men and women, who for example maintain the sophisticated patient monitoring equipment often to be seen bleeping away in television drama.

They care for the piped medical gas and vacuum services found at the patient bed head; the 11,000 volt, and lower voltage, electrical distribution systems; the emergency generators large enough to power a small town; the air conditioning, refrigeration and ventilation plant providing, amongst other things, the quality of air required for operating theatres; and the industrial size laundry and sterilising plant so fundamental to patient safety.

Central to much of this is also the high capacity steam boiler plant, including Combined Heat and Power, which produces the steam in quantity and quality indispensable for sterilising, and for laundering, heating and hotwater.

So much of this work is undertaken out of public view and because of that, and other potentially overlooked groups, I feel it is important to draw attention to the necessary roles that they all play on our behalf just now.

I’m sure we appreciate them, we might just not realise it.