Breathtaking

'Well, what we don't want to do

'is to have to go back to a national lockdown.'

'And so we really need people to stick with us

'and stick to those social distancing interventions

'for that period.'

Together we are tackling this disease,

and I want to reassure you

that if we remain united and resolute,

then we will overcome it.

I've adhered to all the rules

that have been set down by the government,

and this chap just appears from London

and drives all the way up here and...

thinks that he's beyond reproach.

Sorry I'm late.

It's time to eat out to help out.

You have always said as a government

you are led by the science,

so can you tell us how the decisions you've come to

are still based on the science, rather than just the economy?

And now what we're seeing is a rate of increase

across the great majority of the country.

We haven't got the right communications messages

in place locally.

As a result, confusion and chaos spreads,

which actually undermines the very messages

that we're trying to get across to the public.

Can I ask why you're filming me, please?

The epidemic is taking off again,

and so I don't think we've hit this sweet spot

where we've been able to control the epidemic.

The idea of a second COVID wave

isn't some far-off concept.

It feels very real here.

I need to call security if you don't identify yourself

or explain what you're doing.

It's a ghost town. It's empty.

Liars!

Security, please.

Bilateral creps.

LABOURED BREATHING

Very poor air entry.

Sit back for me, please.

Thanks.

Heart sounds barely audible.

What's the gas like?

CO2's 12 and he's got a lactate of five.

On how much oxygen?

Six litres on the Hudson.

OK...

...let's get the fluids in, but cautiously, please.

Have you got this? Yeah.

COUGHING

BEEPING, GENERAL CHATTER

Thanks, everyone.

So, as some of you may have heard,

we are going back to being a hot ward.

GROANING

When?

As of tomorrow. The signage will go back up.

The whole of this floor is becoming COVID wards again.

It's not just us.

We're seeing it more and more on the take.

ED is just...

Well, it's...

Look...

...we have treatments now.

We're doing things now that we didn't know to do

at the beginning of all this.

We have vaccines round the corner.

We know what we're doing. Abbey?

Can I just ask a question? Of course.

Why is it that they're talking about social bubbles at Christmas

when we're having to open up new hot wards again?

Doesn't that mean that we're gonna be...

Social bubbles for some of us, at least.

Look, even if it doesn't feel like it...

...it's not going to be how it was before.

'..First Minister of Northern Ireland,

'to have a relaxation of the rules over Christmas.'

So for five days, from the 23rd to the 27th of December,

people will be allowed to have a Christmas bubble.

I think this has been done to be popular

and possibly because the governments are worried that people are gonna do

their own thing if they don't come up with some restrictions.

But there's no question there is quite a lot of risk with this.

I just wanna...

try everything.

Hit me with it.

OK... Don't hold... Don't hold back.

OK?

I wanna...

I wanna make sure...

the children are a part of everything.

We completely understand, Ellie.

We're gonna treat your COVID as aggressively as we possibly can.

Thank you, Ant.

It's just so...

Yeah, it is.

GASPING

I'll see you later on, Simon.

Great. Bye. Yeah.

Ellie Bridges. Should she be for resus, ITU?

Well, it's hard to say. I mean, there's a reasonable chance,

even with her MS where it is,

that she could survive both an ITU admission or a resuscitation.

So let's go with a trial of CPAP on the ward

and keep her at full escalation, ITU and resuscitation. OK?

Yeah, there's something else.

Simon, her husband.

We just talked to him on Zoom.

He's desperate to bring the children in.

I... They're only six and eight,

so I thought...

Current hospital policy is one visitor only,

and only in the last days of life.

Yeah, but in Ellie's case, that could easily apply.

Can't we make an exception?

We can't, Emma, it's...

It's hospital policy. We...

We all have to follow the rules.

Right. OK?

'..for those at particular risk

'of loneliness or isolation.'

Across the rest of the country,

the Christmas rules allowing up to three households to meet

will now be limited to Christmas Day only,

rather than the five days as previously set out.

'Three, two, one...'

'Merry Christmas, Mum!'

Happy Christmas, my sweethearts.

What's Father Christmas brought for you?

'He got me a Nintendo Switch!' 'Oh, wow.'

'I told you I'd get one.'

'An Apple iPad.' Oh, lovely.

'Right, let's eat the chocolate.'

Save me some of that chocolate, please...

'Yeah.' ...you little horrors.

'It's so tasty.'

KNOCK ON DOOR Hi, Abbey. Oh, sorry.

It's fine. You got a sec?

Yeah, just give me a minute.

'Can we eat the rest of the chocolate now?'

No. 'Oh, come on.'

'Mum!' You have to have breakfast first.

'Even on Christmas Day?' Even on Christmas Day.

'Oh, please.'

I'm sorry. I've got a patient on the ward

that's going to have to take my last remaining ITU bed, so...

But hold on... Ellie Bridges is young.

Young family, desperate for everything, full intervention.

Currently receiving CPAP on the ward. COVID positive.

We both agree her sacral agenesis is not clinically relevant.

Yeah. Her MS relapsing-remitting

is currently stable with good quality of life.

I recognise sacral agenesis isn't relevant here,

but she has advanced MS, and that is.

She's COVID-positive, and she's struggling with it.

I've just seen her on the wards,

and I think we're pretty rapidly going to get

to maximal intervention in ITU, and then we'll see her slide.

The other patient I've been asked to take is 51.

COVID positive with, in my view, a recoverable illness.

His only comorbidity is type 2 diabetes.

He has decent lungs, doesn't have a life-limiting illness,

and on balance, I think he's most likely to cope with the vent.

And most importantly, he's most likely to come off it.

Yeah.

Ellie's chances of being extubated are very slim.

But we don't deny life-saving treatment

when it's clinically indicated.

Lockdown was lifted. We're overrun. I...

It's just where we are.

Chantelle.

Oh, hi. What's up?

I need to discuss Ellie Bridges.

OK.

According to hospital policy,

she's entitled to a relative or caregiver

visiting at the end of life.

Right.

Her husband wants to bring both kids in...

...and I can't choose between her children.

Both children should come as her relatives.

Her husband is their caregiver.

Right.

Thank you.

Hi, girls, hi.

That's it. Come on in.

That's pretty.

So, Mummy's just up this way.

All right, darling?

Hello. Hi!

Hi, guys. Hi.

This is Tracey. Hi.

Tracey's been helping to look after Mummy.

Hi. And you two...

must be Poppy and Katie?

Poppy. Yeah.

You two look beautiful.