NHS Doctors feel abandoned by the government over coronavirus, BMA chair warns

3 April 2020, 07:41 | Updated: 7 June 2023, 08:56

Doctors feel abandoned by the government, BMA chair warns

Doctors and nurses on the frontline of the NHS feel abandoned by the government, the chair of the BMA has told LBC.

The government has promised to supply all hospitals with Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) to keep NHS staff safe as they battle against the spread of coronavirus.

But speaking to LBC, Dr Helena McKeown said that she regularly hears about staff being asked to work without the appropriate safety equipment.

She said: "Colleagues are feeling rather abandoned by the government, still.

"We have reports of some Junior Doctors in particular being asked to see patients that may well have Covid without adequate supplies.

"We have reports from some London teaching hospitals where some colleagues were expected to walk down the middle of an ICU department without adequate supplies.

"We have reports of an NHS hospital almost running out of oxygen.

"My colleagues are frightened. They have never had to do this before.

"They are working extremely long shifts. This is an extremely difficult job that our generation has never done. My colleagues are rightly frightened, but they are working very, very hard and no one is giving up."

Watch her interview at the top of the page.