EVERY Thursday evening we clap on our doorsteps in appreciation of NHS staff working gruelling shifts, putting their own health at risk, to treat patients during the Covid-19 crisis.

Because of current access restrictions, very few of us actually see these extraordinary men and women in action in hospital wards and intensive care units.

But Nudrat Afza got a glimpse of medical staff at work when her daughter was admitted to Bradford Royal Infirmary recently. A gifted photographer, Nudrat captured on camera these remarkable images of doctors and nurses working long hours, and occasionally taking a break from exhausting shifts.

Nudrat’s daughter, Khadijah, was born with biliary atresia, a life-threatening liver condition, and had major surgery at nine-weeks-old. Since December she has been in and out of hospital, and recently spent three weeks at the BRI. When Khadijah, who has learning difficulties, became distressed at being separated from her mother, Nudrat was given permission to be with her in the room where she was treated.

“When I took her to admissions I wasn’t allowed in, and Khadijah was crying. I had warned her that I wouldn’t be able to stay at the hospital, because of the virus, but she didn’t really understand. She has learning difficulties and other health issues as well as her liver condition,” says Nudrat. “The next day I had a ‘phonecall from the team that was caring for with her, and they arranged for me to go in.”

It was while Nudrat was with Khadijah in her room, and later in a ward, that she saw close-up the tireless work of nursing and other healthcare staff. “I saw the stresses and strain on their faces, and also their kindness and care. That really came across,” says Nudrat. “It was very challenging to photograph them at work; they were all so busy and everything was so fast moving around us, and I wanted to capture them in action.

“They do a wonderful job and it is especially difficult for them at this time, when they are confronting this virus on a daily basis.”

Adds Nudrat: “Things have changed in hospitals; the physical appearance of doctors and nurses, now they all have to wear masks. The corridors are empty, there’s an eerie quiet to areas of the hospital that are usually busy. Khadijah has been in and out of the BRI, and it’s a place I know well, but I found it very different these past few weeks.”

Nudrat’s black and white photographs images were taken on a Leica M2 and a Canon EOS camera.

“Khadijah had to be in isolation initially so we were in a room. I asked the staff if I could take photographs of them. They had no objections, they were very accommodating,” says Nudrat. “I had to carry the camera around with me. People take pictures on their mobiles all the time,but if you have a different looking camera, people sometimes become a bit self-conscious, and once you get that, you’ve lost the moment. I explained to them that I take pictures for social documenting. Eventually they got used to me being there, and didn’t take much notice of the camera.

“The first few pictures were taken in Khadijah’s room, then in Ward 3 where she was moved to. That gave me different lighting, and a new scene to focus on.”

Nudrat was taking her photographs while trying to reassure Khadijah, 32. “She said to me, ‘Mum, this is my second home’ which I found very painful to hear,” says Nudrat. “She needs a liver transplant. She has been very poorly, and has gone back into the hospital now.

“It was Khadijah’s birthday last week and they let her out a day early, so we could have a celebration at home. Our friend, Irene Coast, made some cakes for her and she gifted them to the staff on Ward 3.”

Chief Executive of Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Mel Pickup, said: “They say a picture’s worth a thousand words and Nudrat’s photos really capture the spirit of our hard-working staff as they go about their work, looking after our patients throughout what has been a very challenging time.

“We all send our best wishes to Khadijah.”

Nudrat is a self-taught photographer and works with negatives, not digitally. She uses her camera to document various aspects of Bradford life. Earlier this year, her striking images of Bradford Synagogue went on display at Cartwright Hall. She also photographed female football fans at Valley Parade, for a calendar and exhibition called City Girls.

It was the City Girls calendar that caught the attention of Oscar-winning screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, who gave Nudrat a camera to work with. The Glusburn-born writer of Slumdog Millionaire and The Full Monty said: “Everyone with a phone can take a photograph. But not everybody is a photographer.

“In the colourful noise of a billion images, a few people stand out. Nudrat is one of them.”