UCL medical students playing ’invaluable’ role on the NHS frontline

'We can't manage without them', 'outstanding', 'invaluable', 'critical': these are just a few of the words used to describe UCL's medical students, who have been volunteering in support of the NHS frontline during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Since March last year, at the start of England's first lockdown, more than 340 UCL student medics have registered to work as paid or volunteer healthcare support workers - all part of the NHS's 'call to action' for medically trained support. Through 2020 and continuing now, thousands of hours have been clocked up, working in a diverse range of medical roles including: health care assistants in Intensive Care Units (ICUs), emergency departments and traditional wards; ICU family liaison workers; COVID-19 vaccinators; and GP assistants. Volunteer work has been carried out at all UCL Medical School partner hospitals; University College London Hospital; the Royal Free, London, the Whittington Hospital; North Middlesex University Hospital; and Luton, Dunstable and Lister hospitals (part of East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust). Other student volunteer work has been conducted at palliative care hospices, GP surgeries and as part of the NHS vaccination programme. In addition, UCL medical students in years 4, 5 and 6, have been able to use some of their regular and ongoing NHS learning placements to support their clinical teachers to carry out supervised COVID-19 specific work. This aspect is unpaid, but accounts for many more thousands of hours.