Coronavirus crisis leaves one in five doctors in UK off work and 27 A&E nurses ill at one hospital
ALMOST one out of every five doctors is absent from work as the coronavirus emergency spirals this week, new figures have revealed.
Some 27 A&E nurses from ONE hospital are also ill – showing the true impact of the crisis on the NHS.
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It comes as the government faces criticism for failing to provide enough Covid-19 tests or personal protective equipment (PPE) gear for frontline NHS staff.
One London medic says staff are “dropping like flies” during the outbreak.
A survey of more than 2,500 doctors, which was conducted by The Sunday Times and the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), has revealed 18 per cent are off work.
It’s three times the 5.7 per cent absence rate for doctors cited by Health Secretary Matt Hancock last week.
Four out of five of those off work blamed the coronavirus.
SCALE OF THE CRISIS REVEALED
Almost 30 nurses working in the A&E department at Southend Hospital in Essex have also reportedly become ill.
One nurse is in intensive care after staff at the hospital said they were “petrified” about the rationing of PPE.
Nationally, Central London and the northeast are the most badly affected areas. Some 30 per cent of doctors from both areas are off work, according to the survey.
One in three have been absent at some point during the pandemic.
Professor Alison Pittard, dean of the Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine, which represents, 3,500 critical care medics, said: “I know there are departments where up to 50 per cent of their medical staff are unable to work because of this.”
The survey also found that, despite weeks of warnings, almost one in four doctors had struggled to get appropriate or sufficient PPE.
Coronavirus has already killed eight members of NHS staff, including two mothers-of-three in their thirties.
NHS WORKERS ARE DYING
He collapsed and died after working a 12-hour shift.
After returning home from work on Friday following a night shift, John complained about suffering from a headache and a high temperature throughout the night, his mother told the The Mail on Sunday.
His mum says he had not been wearing the proper protective clothing while at work.
Aimee O’Rourke, 38, also sadly passed away after treating patients.
Mum-of-three Ms O’Rourke, 38, died at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent, where she worked.
Areema Nasreen, 36, died in the intensive care ward of the hospital where she had worked earlier this week.
Areema, who leaves children aged eight, 10 and 17, qualified as a staff nurse in January last year and worked at Walsall Manor Hospital’s acute medical unit.
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She had wanted to be a nurse since she was a teenager, after caring for her nan who suffered a stroke.
Five doctors have also died after contracting coronavirus, including 68-year-old Dr Alfa Sa’adu, mental health nurse Thomas Harvey and Dr Amged El-Hawrani, 55.
Mr Harvey, 57, had expressed concern about the lack of protective equipment for frontline workers, according to his family.
He was an experienced nurse, who had dedicated more than 20 years of his life to the NHS before his tragic death on Sunday 29 March.
‘SO LET DOWN’
His 19-year-old daughter Tamira says that he was “let down” and his death could have been prevented.
Dr Habib Zaidi, 76, is believed to have been the first doctor in the UK to have been killed by Covid-19 and Dr Adil El Tayar, 63, passed away shortly after.
Nurses are forced to “hold their breath” as medics are using “kids’ school goggles” because of the lack of equipment, a top doctor said today.
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Dr Rinesh Parmar, of the Doctors’ Association, said there are still major issues surrounding the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Health leaders yesterday warned further deaths were “inevitable” as soaring numbers of staff treating virus patients are themselves falling critically ill.
