and it s quite emotionally tough and sometimes you feel like you take on their struggles because they re not able to be at the bedside. this merciless disease has taken its toll on so many staff. malachi started as a nurse exactly a year ago. in the peak, he cared for four patients at once. he was meant to care forjust one. i mean, there were three deaths in the last 24 hours here, on this ward, yeah. and that s a lot. and then you turn around and there s still 12 other patients. it sjust not feasible, you can t carry on like this for a long time. with case numbers now falling, the nhs is turning its attention to its next mammoth task dealing with the backlog of operations that have been delayed by the pandemic. there s a whole group of patients who ve been waiting to be seen in clinic and then go on a waiting list. so the backlog will be, will be huge. the nhs is starting cautiously to look beyond the upheaval inflicted by covid. but this could be a brief moment of calm, a