× THERE is ‘absolutely no doubt’ that frontline staff at Barnsley Hospital should be considered heroes for their response to coronavirus, the Chronicle was told on an exclusive first visit since the outbreak.
Bosses, keeping their eyes and ears to mounting national and international news reports, began planning as early as January before the ‘Covid ward’ - on the Gawber Road building’s top floor, in the Acorn Unit previously used for care of the elderly - was established in March.
The scene came to resemble as close to ‘what we could possibly imagine a warzone being like’, said intensive care consultant Dr Sughrat Siddiqui.