Milton Keynes nurse who almost died from Covid gets pay guaranteed until retirement

Raymond Mwasaru spent 45 days on a ventilator in an induced coma at Milton Keynes Hospital last May.

He also suffered kidney failure due to the virus and his wife Alice was told to come and say a final goodbye because doctors did not think he would survive.

Yet miraculously 64-year-old Raymond pulled through and left the hospital in July, with nurses lining up along the corridor to applaud him as he was wheeled out in a chair.

He is now recovering at home where, six months on, he still suffers from shortage of breath and coughing fits due to the scarring on his lungs.

But his his employers, specialist neurological care providers, PJ Care, have told him they will continue to pay his salary until his retirement in two years’ time, whether he is able to return to work or not.

“I’m so grateful, it has really helped us as a family,” said Raymond, who worked at the Bluebirds care centre in Shenley Lodge for six years.

“PJ Care have been so supportive the whole time I’ve been unwell. They would ring my wife, Alice, every couple of weeks, and even now they still call to see how I am doing, he added.”

A registered learning disability nurse, Raymond works with residents who have degenerative neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s and various forms of dementia. PJ Care runs a second care centre in MK, Mallard House, and a third in Peterborough.

The company chairman Neil Russell said supporting Raymond was the right thing to do.

“Raymond has given so much to our residents here, he’s a very valued member of the team. We named him ‘Clinician of the Year’ in our internal staff awards two years ago. He has been through the most awful experience and we felt we couldn’t add to his concerns.

"Giving him financial peace of mind was something we could do and we had to do.”

Raymond’s wife i s also a nurse. She said: “When he left intensive care, he couldn’t sit up, he couldn’t walk, and I had to be there every day from 2pm to 7pm to encourage him and motivate him with his physiotherapy. He was very frustrated but our grand-daughter, Naima, wanted him home for her ninth birthday at the end of July. He made it with two weeks to spare!

She added: “He gets short of breath and can’t talk for too long. He struggles to lift his arms above shoulder height and he still experiences coughing episodes because of scarring to his lungs. He also worries about being reinfected.”

Raymond has no current plans to go back to work as he still has some way to go in his recovery, but if he does return, it will be to a non-clinical role.

Neil said: “Nurses are very valuable and we would love to see Raymond back but it will be his decision.

"All our staff have gone to massive lengths to keep our residents, and each other, as safe as possible. They are an incredible team and we take great pleasure in returning the care by looking after them in any way we can.”