Doctor Returns To Wards After Ebola Isolation

A Swansea doctor who took leave to travel to treat Ebola patients in Africa, is back on the wards after three weeks in isolation. Specialist registrar Nathalie MacDermott flew to Liberia last month to help at a centre which quarantined and cared for Ebola patients. The 32 year old, who works in Singleton Hospital's neonatal unit, treated between 50 and 100 patients during her time there, but only three survived.

She says media reports of the outbreak were not 'overblown' and she felt the situation was 'spiralling out of control' when she arrived. It felt like we were sitting on a time bomb which was slowly exploding under us and there was nothing we could do.

It's hard for a doctor to know that they won't be able to save the vast majority of their patients, but I already knew that when I went to Liberia. I knew that many local health care workers were frightened of their patients and the care they gave them was inconsistent.

There can be nothing worse than to die alone, in pain and frightened, so i went there to help prevent some of this suffering - to care for them, to manage their pain, to pray with them and comfort them.