One hospital’s journey on the Covid frontline

In Wales, public health officials say they’re seeing a steady increase in Covid-19 cases, with 50 new positive cases reported today. But hospital admissions remain at a small fraction of the level seen during the height of the outbreak earlier this year.

The Aneurin Bevan Health Board area was hit hard as Covid cases rapidly rose during the early stages of the outbreak.

During the height of the pandemic we interviewed one of their consultants, Dave Hepburn, who gave a very candid account of what they were experiencing and the relative youth of those they were seeing in intensive care.

A consultant working alongside him called Nick Mason – who’s also a photographer – began documenting life across their hospital as the pandemic stretched their critical care unit to near breaking point. In days off and at the end of shifts he began compiling a remarkable archive, 2,000 images in total, to capture – in his words – this unprecedented moment in the history of the NHS.

The filmmaker Dave Young has been to meet Nick Mason – and some of those he photographed in the midst of the pandemic – to reflect on the past and what the months ahead could bring too. This is their film