Work on a wall mural to commemorate the work of NHS staff during the pandemic begins this week.

The 13m x 14m (42 x 46 foot) mural of a nurse in PPE will grace the side of Hull and East Yorkshire Eye Hospital in Fountain Street in the grounds of Hull Royal Infirmary.

Hull University Teaching Hospitals (HUTH) have arranged for the mural to be spray-painted onto the side of the three-storey building to thank staff for their continuing efforts more than two years into the declaration of the pandemic by the World Health Organisation in January 2020.

Costing £2,500, the mural will also be a focal point to remember the 1,086 people who have died in Hull’s hospitals from the virus, including three of the trust’s own members of staff. It will feature the inscription: “We thank you, we think of them.”

HUTH Chief Executive Chris Long said: “We wanted to create a lasting tribute to thank staff for the outstanding efforts over these past two years.

“Our staff are still dealing with the pandemic and will continue to feel the impact on their workload and our hospital services for years to come so we wanted something that shows our city how much we appreciate everything they have done and are still doing every day.”

Spray Creative, a Hull-based collective of local graffiti artists, mural painters and urban decorators, will begin the mural this week and it is expected to be completed by the end of the month.