Doncaster hospital to build garden remembering 200 people lost to Covid-19

The gardens - to be created at both hospitals - are intended as places to ‘help ease pressure and provide a better environment for hospital staff and visitors’.

Two of those who died of the disease were DRI clinical staff Medhat Atalla and Kevin Smith.

Medhat, 62, has been described as a physician who was ‘dedicated’ to the elderly patients he cared for who was ‘very popular with staff and greatly missed’ while colleagues have remembered him for his personal touch.

They wrote how he addressed everyone he worked with by their name and was ‘meticulous’ - known for ‘chasing staff with the observations sheet in-hand to ensure it was completed’.

Paul Haslam, consultant orthopaedic surgeon, told how Dr Atalla, aged 62, was a ‘really lovely guy’ who had a ‘cheery determination’ and the hospital would ‘struggle to fill his void’.

Surgeon Paul told how he had even operated on Dr Atalla’s knees - saying ‘he was really struggling but went back to work far too early’.

He added: “He completely ignored my advice but doctors never do as they’re told.”

Paul said Dr Atalla, originally from Egypt, ‘almost certainly contracted (coronavirus) at work’.

He said: “There was a very high incidence of Covid-19 in the wards he was on because he worked with patients who had come from nursing homes.”

Father-of-three Paul said he was told by colleagues Dr Atalla was ‘unwell’ and was being cared for in ITU before he died a few weeks later.

Speaking about the coronavirus pandemic Paul, 49, described how there was now ‘light at the end of the tunnel’.

He said: “Things seem to be getting gradually easier but lots of staff have been off sick with the virus.

“A lot of our patients have come from nursing homes but the test is so unreliable - which is what puts staff at risk because if you’re sure a patient has the virus you’re more cautious.”

Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals Trust plans to build new gardens at both of its hospitals, a memorial at DRI for lost colleagues and place new tables and benches across all sites for patients and staff.

Paul said while helping out at the Trust’s A&E departments during breaks he realised there was ‘nowhere for people to sit down and have lunch’.

He said: “I thought it would be nice for anyone who comes to the hospitals to have somewhere they can just go and clear their minds and get away from it all.”

Emma Shaheen, fundraising lead at the Trust said: “During the pandemic the rainbow has become a symbol of support for the NHS and it feels fitting that we create rainbow gardens in memory of those we have sadly lost.”

To support the Rainbow Garden’s appeal you can donate HERE.

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