Inside London’s coronavirus ICU ward: BBC footage lifts lid on intensive care

'It is completely unimaginable and we’re not at the peak yet', doctor on front line of pandemic warns

New footage from inside an intensive care unit (ICU) has revealed the struggle facing doctors and nurses during the coronavirus pandemic.

The film, released by the BBC, shows NHS staff in an ICU at University College Hospital in London taking part in life-saving tasks such as monitoring a ward of patients on ventilators.

Medical workers are also seen wearing personal protective equipment as they communicate with colleagues in different rooms through walkie-talkies, as their visors prevent them from using phones.

Dr Jim Down, one of the doctors on the unit, said “It is completely unimaginable and we’re not at the peak yet. We can’t cope with a big spike, we just can’t.”

He added: “None of us have ever seen anything like this.”

Dr Down also noted that “young and fit” people were among those being treated in intensive care.

One of his colleagues, Elaine Thorpe, who has been a nurse for 23 years, said she has never experienced anything like the coronavirus outbreak - not even the London bombings.

She said: “I want people to listen very carefully to what the government and we in the NHS are saying. The situation is very serious and unless people stay home, it will continue.”

The ICU had been a recovery area for patients following surgery, before it was converted in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.

On average, staff on the ward are working around 60 hours per week to help patients suffering from severe Covid-19 pneumonia.

The footage was released on the same day that the prime minister was taken into intensive care for treatment.

After being admitted to St Thomas’ Hospital in London on Sunday evening after his coronavirus symptoms worsened, Boris Johnson was transferred to an ICU on Monday night.

The prime minister, who had previously been self-isolating at 10 Downing Street, remains in intensive care, where officials say he has received oxygen but has not been placed on a ventilator.

He has received messages of support from British politicians as well as other world leaders.