Longest Stay Covid-19 Patient; Health Inequalities; Agoraphobia; Covid-19 Testing
Inside Health
BBC
4.4 • 575 Ratings
🗓️ 19 May 2020
⏱️ 29 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Claudia Hammond on the longest known stay for a Briton with COVID-19 in intensive care. A month ago Respiratory Physiotherapist Gemma Bartlett at University Hospital Southampton highlighted the case to Inside Health. At that stage the patient was at day 28: now Erika Wright catches up with Gemma again for a good news update on the patient who is at a staggering 58 days on a ventilator and has been speaking for 3 weeks. There are many unknowns about COVID-19 but one aspect that is not disputed is how the virus has laid bare pre-existing health inequalities. It does not effect us all in the same way and those with underlying health conditions such as heart disease, obesity and diabetes are at a higher risk of poorer outcomes if they get the virus. Linda Bauld from Edinburgh University and Chair in Behavioural Research at Cancer Research UK says this is the time to reset the health inequalities clock. And Laura Bartley, who began having severe symptoms of agoraphobia five years ago, explains her experience of lockdown. Plus resident sceptic GP Margaret McCartney explains her concerns about the current Covid-19 testing strategy.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hello, you're about to listen to a BBC podcast, and I'm Ed Gamble, host of another BBC podcast, |
| 0:05.4 | The Traitors Uncloaked. But my show is available only on BBC Sounds, just like Ellis and John's |
| 0:10.6 | Saturday bonus episodes, the Pop Top Ten podcast with Scott Mills and Ryland, and comedy specials |
| 0:16.2 | from the likes of Harriet Kemsley, Susie Ruffel and Rommas Shranger Nathan. However, and maybe I'm biased, it's really all about the traitors uncloked. |
| 0:24.3 | So for a whole bunch of exclusive scoops and podcasts, listen only on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:29.5 | Hi there, this is Claudia Hammond. |
| 0:31.4 | Welcome to Inside Health, the virus from BBC Radio 4, recorded on May 19th, 2020. |
| 0:40.2 | Hello, I hope you're okay. Now, you may be someone who's just started going back out to work again, or who's thinking about how one day you might. |
| 0:45.7 | The relaxation of lockdown isn't going to be easy for everyone. We'll hear why some people |
| 0:50.7 | would prefer to stay cocooned, especially if they've experienced agoraphobia in the |
| 0:56.1 | past. And we'll have Dr Margaret McCartney on whether the UK is taking the right approach to test, |
| 1:02.3 | track and trace. Now, you might remember a few weeks ago, we spoke to a respiratory physiotherapist |
| 1:07.8 | Gemma Blanchett, who was working in intensive care at Southampton General Hospital, |
| 1:12.8 | helping patients to cough often when they were sedated. She highlighted to Inside Health's Erica Wright |
| 1:19.2 | one particular patient who'd been in intensive care with COVID-19 for some time. |
| 1:24.8 | Our longest standing patient currently is about day 28. 28 days. So she's been in with us nearly a month. She's young. She's actually the same age as me with no comorbidities, so we're in the same situation. That was a month ago. And Erica, you've been back to Southampton to catch up with Gemma again. How did it go? Yes, so as you say, that was some time back and you can actually hear the shock |
| 1:45.8 | in my voice when Jeva told me about 28 days on intensive care. So imagine when I checked back with her |
| 1:51.3 | just recently and I found out that this person is now actually on day 58 on a ventilator and she's |
| 1:57.5 | thought to probably be the longest known Britain on a ventilator with COVID-19. |
| 2:02.6 | And just in case anybody is a bit confused for clarity, |
| 2:05.4 | this is the same case that was being reported in the Sunday papers |
| 2:09.1 | and on the Today program yesterday. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.