Whittington Hospital ICU staff and patients share Coronavirus testimonies in new TV documentary
2020: The Story Of Us. Photograph: ITV
The Whittington Hospital is at the centre of an ITV documentary on first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald has staff and patients talk about their experiences in 2020: The Story of Us, to premiere at 9pm on Tuesday 16 March.
The documentary tells the story of Coronavirus through the testimonies of the people most affected by it both personally and professionally.
From Whittington Health, Professor Hugh Montgomery shares his experience of working as a consultant in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) throughout the pandemic.
He recounts the pressure that NHS staff were under, their struggles to understand and fight a new disease and to keep patients alive.
The film also follows the stories of some of the patients who survived the virus thanks to the care they received from Whittington Health.
We hear from bus driver Matthew Richards and poet Michael Rosen about what it was like to find themselves in the ICU and their struggle to come to terms with having been so close to not surviving.
When Whittington Health sat down for a meeting with The Intensive Care Society and a TV production company back in early 2019 to discuss an idea they had about a documentary to mark the Society’s 50th anniversary (which was celebrated in June 2020), little did anyone know how central to all of our lives the work of intensive care staff was going to become.
Much of the footage has been captured by staff themselves on their mobile phones in real time adding a unique dimension to the documentary.
All filming was carried out with strict adherence to COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions.
Director by Kevin Macdonald won an Oscar for his documentary film One Day In September that examines the murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.
He is also known as the director of The Last King of Scotland (2006), which received a 2007 BAFTA Award for Best British Film.