‘Morale boosting’ artwork highlights life behind the mask

Christine Clark, a local artist, has taken on the challenge of painting staff members of Poole Hospital with the aim of showcasing the work of its busy oral and maxillofacial surgery team.

Ten members of staff from the department, which deals with the diagnosis and treatment of patients with diseases affecting the mouth, jaw, face and neck including cancer were painted to lift team spirits.

The project was coordinated by Mr Atul Kusanale, consultant head, neck and reconstructive surgeon, who was introduced to Christine by a local dentist.

Christine said: “When Covid-19 arrived, I decided to keep a daily sketch diary relating to something I’d seen or done that day.

“During an emergency appointment with my dentist he was wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). I asked if I could make a sketch of him for my diary which he then sent to the maxillofacial department and gained Mr Kusanale’s interest.”

Mr Kusanale asked members of the team wishing to participate to provide photos of them wearing PPE to illustrate working life through Covid-19.

“Over the last few months we have had to use PPE as we are one of the hospital’s high risk specialities,” explained Mr Kusanale.

“Doing a 10-14 hour free flap (transplantation of tissue from one site of the body to another) operation in a day is challenging at any given time but combined with PPE is altogether a different experience.”

Ayesha Dalal, an ST3 trainee doctor, said: “PPE has been the biggest challenge. Wearing loupes with mask results in misting of the glasses which hampers visibility, and as a new trainee this makes training even more challenging.

“I feel that the pandemic has brought our team closer and having our photographs painted was a fun exercise that lifted our spirits and gave us a much needed boost!”

Debbie Ruffell, nurse, added: “The pictures are a true depiction of the people working behind the masks and have boosted our morale.”

Dipti Samal, international training fellow, explained: "Face-to-face interaction with patients is an important tool of any consultation, and working with masks and shields has limited the way we communicate with patients, making us feel faceless and even voiceless at times."

Abhishek Akare, dental core trainee, said: “I felt this exercise was such a great idea and it feels that the paintings depict the trials of working in such difficult climate.”

The paintings will be a reminder of the challenges staff faced, but will serve as a memory to the department that they were able to work closely as a team and overcome the difficulties from Covid-19.