Response to the current coronavirus pandemic has seen many retired personnel return to the clinical laboratory bench to help facilitate realisation of testing targets. Such altruistic action does reintroduce the returnee to the reality of change.
Agatha Christie said: “Never go back to a place where you have been happy. Until you do, it remains alive for you”. However, the invitation was an unmissable opportunity to work in the laboratory that I had spent two years in the planning stage, prior to my retirement, leaving before we moved. It also gave me the chance to indulge further my passion for virology. The decision to accept was obvious.
I was amazed to be asked to return as a locum consultant virologist after 10 years of retirement to help during the COVID crisis. Fortunately, my activities as a United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) assessor at both clinical and technical level provided evidence of continuous practice accepted by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) for register re-instatement. Being older than 70, I had assessed my return as being low-risk because virologists are trained to handle and minimise the risks associated with viruses.
It was a shock to find that the laboratory had been ‘required to accept’ volunteers from the university and other medical students, and this impaired any attempts at social distancing. It was an even greater shock to hear that the medical students were being paid more than the Band 3 laboratory support workers, just for completing a database.
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