TY - JOUR T1 - Setting up an emergency medical task force to manage the demands of COVID-19: experiences of a London teaching hospital JF - BMJ Leader JO - BMJ Leader DO - 10.1136/leader-2021-000487 SP - leader-2021-000487 AU - Pramit Khetrapal AU - Sophie Skarbek AU - Louis Tapper AU - Claire Mason AU - Sarah Davis AU - Daisy Henderson AU - Ben Riley AU - Liam Price AU - Charlotte Cumby AU - Caroline Kennedy AU - Hannah Woodcock AU - Neel Jain AU - Shier Ziser AU - Timothy Yates AU - Jay Mehta AU - Alex Amphlett AU - Deirdre Dinneen AU - Umaira Aziz AU - Vanisha Parekh AU - Bimbi Fernando AU - Paul Dilworth AU - Amir Jehangir AU - John Connolly AU - Rupert Negus AU - Nick Murch AU - Aoife Molloy AU - Christopher Hui AU - Aine Burns Y1 - 2021/10/07 UR - http://bmjleader.bmj.com/content/early/2021/10/06/leader-2021-000487.abstract N2 - The WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic on 12 March 2020.1 Within 2 weeks of the first identified case in the UK, the number of confirmed cases had increased from 20 to 1500.2 3 By 12 May 2020, the UK had the fourth highest number of cases in the world, and the second highest number of deaths due to COVID-19 infection, with 225 000 positive cases and over 32 000 deaths. London had the highest incidence in the UK with 25 980 confirmed cases,4 which was especially concerning given the population density in the capital.5 6 Hospitals in London, therefore, saw an exponential rise in patients presenting with COVID-19 pneumonitis, necessitating the formation of new wards and an urgent need to support those responsible for them in General Medicine and Intensive Care.The arrival of COVID-19 caused huge disruption to the regular workflow of hospitals throughout the UK.7–9 Most specialties cancelled elective activities in mid-March 2020, and the Royal Colleges suspended training10 to permit redeployment of trainees. Doctors were transferred from both medical and surgical disciplines to maximise the total workforce pool.11 For many, this was a very stressful time, faced with demanding work outside their chosen specialty, placed on schedules at very short notice with no annual-leave permitted and with no clear endpoint.12 Research posts and placements integral to individuals’ training were suspended.The Royal Free Hospital is a major university teaching hospital, and hosts the only high-level isolation containment unit in London. It provides healthcare services to a wide catchment population in excess of one million people. Additionally, it is a tertiary referral centre for centralised services such as cancer immunology, rheumatology, liver and kidney disease, transplantation, complex vascular surgery and other specialist disciplines. In anticipation of the added pressures from the COVID-19 outbreak, many … ER -