Coronavirus in Portsmouth: Queen Alexandra Hospital nurses boosted with £2,500 fundraiser

Money is being raised for nurses at Queen Alexandra Hospital, in an effort co-ordinated by Oakley Crosswell, who knows only too well about the effort that medical staff are putting in, as his partner of 10 years Alice Porter is a nurse.

The JustGiving page has already broken its original target of £500 and now aims to reach £2,500 with nearly £1,800 raised already.

Money raised will go towards increasing nurse morale by organising an event or day out for the NHS workers, as soon as it is safe to do so.

Oakley, 23, said: ‘I wanted to start this fundraiser to really highlight on a local level, what a community can do for nurses on a high care ward.’

Mr Crosswell, who works as a specialist mentor in psychology and mental health, has seen first hand the strength and determination it takes to work on the frontline during a pandemic.

He said: ‘My fiancee works as a nurse on the respiratory high care ward unit, which is treating mainly Covid-19 patients at the moment, I haven't been able to see her for quite a few months now.’

‘Morale is so low on the high care ward, and so many of them are my close friends. At the moment they are just shells of their original selves, in terms that their whole life is treating critically ill patients.’

Alice, who is living away from Oakley, has seen the fundraiser and said: ‘It’s really lovely to see that local people are coming together to help raise our spirits, although we are in tough times we continue to care and support every patient that comes through these doors.

‘Thank you so much to everyone that has donated and help raise awareness.’

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As Covid numbers in Portsmouth continue to rise, Queen Alexandra staff are under pressure.

They were caring for around 503 patients with the virus, as of January 12.

Oakley said he has concern over the effects long Covid cases could have on the hospital.

He said: ‘It is important to understand that it's not just deaths we’re trying to avoid. It's the overall pressure on, one, the NHS, and two, saving people from having to go through these experiences.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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