A Harrogate home carer has said working through a pandemic for 20 months has been some of the hardest months she’s had to face.
Throughout the pandemic home carers have continued to go into the homes of the vulnerable even if covid was present. One of those is Rachel Yarwood, an assistant manager at St Margaret’s Homecare, which assists people in their homes in and around Harrogate.
She said coronavirus has meant her job can be both “terrifying and rewarding”.
Working through different tiers in full PPE has not been easy for anyone on the frontline, but Ms Yarwood said she felt home carers in particular were the “forgotten group”.
She said doing 17-18 calls a day while trying to bathe people was extremely tough. At the height of the pandemic in 2020, the St Margaret’s staff were making aprons out of car seat covers to prevent them running out.
“The NHS have been amazing but we have worked hard too to keep people out of hospital and at home.
“It’s been extremely hard at times. I remember having a chat with my daughter at the beginning giving her instructions on how to look after my other two kids in case I got it because back then we didn’t know how bad it would be.”
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For many of the clients, Ms Yarwood and her team were the only people they were seeing for a long time. She said “we became like family”.
“Some were really depressed at times. It was really hard to see some of them deteriorate and feel so lonely.”
Looking ahead to next year, Ms Yarwood said:
“We aren’t becoming complacent, we know covid isn’t going anywhere. But we are much more prepared now. We’ll just keep pulling together as a team.”
The November image from the charity calendar
Ms Yarwood and her team have also been photographed for a charity calendar to raise money for Mind. She said the ‘Covid Calendar Girls’ calendar came about after seeing the impact of isolation on clients.
She said:
“We just wanted to do out bit and it was a lot of fun. I hope it makes a few people smile and more importantly raises money for Mind.”
To find out more and support the calendar appeal, click here.