Page 48 - 4RA Regimental Journal 2019-2020

4th Regiment Royal Artillery Operation RESCRIPT 2020
When the Regiment deployed on Exercise SUNDERLAND DAG- GER at the very start of March 2020 the threat of COVID-19 seemed to be a minor concern for the UK. Little did the unit know that its exercise would be cut short and that its personnel would spend much of the year to come deployed on Operation RESCRIPT, which was Defence’s contribution to the national pan- demic response.
PROJECT NIGHTINGALE
Fearing that hospitals would be over- whelmed by COVID-19 cases, the Govern- ment directed the establishment of tem- porary hospitals across the UK to provide additional bed-spaces; this ambition was known as Project Nightingale. One such hospital, to be called NHS Nightingale Yorkshire and Humber, was constructed in the Harrogate Convention Centre with the support of 4th Regiment RA.
88 (Arracan) Battery was tasked to take the lead for military liaison and support to the hospital; the Rednecks spent the entirety of April focussed on this task with additional support soon coming from other batteries as well. BC and BK 88 (Arracan) Battery embedded with the hastily assembled hospital executive and
88 (Arracan) Battery soldiers attending special
training at the Army Medical Services Training Centre in Strensall in preparation for possible ward duties at the Nightingale
Soldiers from 88 (Arracan) Battery delivery hospital beds to the Nightingale hospital in Harrogate
management staff with the CO providing regular higher-level engagement as well. An army of contractors had soon trans- formed the various convention halls into large hospital wards with a total capac- ity for 497 critical care beds. Surprisingly however, the build phase was the simplest of this project, with the far more challeng- ing problems of staffing and equipping the hospital to come. Reinforced by the QM’s Department, 88 (Arracan) Battery soon found itself assisting the NHS in the establishment of an off-site logistics hub and in the transport of key ward equip- ment into the hospital – often at very short notice. Officers from 129 (Dragon) Battery were drafted in to help the NHS planners ‘ROC Drill’ their staff induction processes and their hospital emergency procedures. Meanwhile, scores of soldiers were trained in basic ward duties, warned-off to act as blood couriers, mortuary porters and PPE donners and doffers if the hospital were to open. As NHS recruitment picked up pace, those same soldiers played an unglamor- ous yet vital role in facilitating the induc- tion training.
As the first peak of the virus passed it became clear that the NHS Nightin- gale hospital in Harrogate would not be required for the foreseeable future. After assisting the NHS planners in the drafting of a close-down and re-activation SOP, 88 (Arracan) Battery stood-down from the task in May, with a newfound respect for what the NHS and its partners could achieve in such a short timeframe and with a sense of pride at the small part it had played in providing resilience to the Northeast in a time of need.
MOBILE TESTING UNITS
After its flurry of support to the Nightingale hospital in Harrogate in April, the Regiment largely found itself dispersed on readiness for the rest of the spring. Things were to soon change in the summer though. As laboratory capacity increased the Gov- ernment required additional manpower to roll-out mass COVID-19 testing to mem- bers of the public who were displaying possible symptoms. Civilian contractors were not yet ready to takeover this task, so once again 4th Regiment RA stepped up to provide this support in the Northeast.
3/29 (Corunna) Battery were assigned the lead on this Mobile Testing Unit (MTU) duty, though with the manpower require- ment exceeding 200 soldiers this task quickly absorbed all batteries in the Regi-
One of the newly constructed wards at NHS Nightingale Yorkshire and Humber
The Harrogate Nightingale hospital Executive team
46