Son of fallen NHS doctor exposes shocking practice of withholding PPE

2 May 2020, 10:53

Son of deceased NHS worker sheds light on PPE debacle

This brave caller revealed to Andrew Castle how his father had campaigned for face masks for NHS staff until he died of Covid-19.

Michael Tun whose father Dr Peter Tun specialised in helping patients with brain conditions recover and he died at the Royal Berkshire hospital, where he worked, after contracting Covid-19. He has campaigned for accountability over the death of his father and many others because of a lack of protection for frontline workers.

"The concern that he had was that the ward he worked on had their masks taken away... because there was no confirmed or suspected cases, but my father argued everyone should be treated as suspected."

Mr. Tun told Andrew Castle that his father passed away "exactly one week" after being admitted to a ward in his own workplace with coronavirus. Andrew wanted to know how Dr Tun's colleagues reacted to the news of his death.

"All of them were like family to him" his son told LBC. He told Andrew of how he was stunned by the death of his father, claiming that "it's not real until it happens to you".

"I saw a lot of things on the news but it wasn't real to me" he said. The death of his father has changed his view of coronavirus and pushed him to push for public awareness of what is happening to healthcare workers because of a lack of equipment.

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Andrew wanted to know what Michael wants to happen in light of his father's death.

"It's a fundamental problem when a doctor of 40 years has to make such a strong case just to get some face masks" he stated. Michael pointed out that within the NHS "there are a lot of vulnerable staff" and it is not good enough that staff have equipment taken from them because there are no known cases in their area.

"Hopefully another family don't have to come on to talk about this" Mr Tun told Andrew.

Andrew was disgusted by the revelations of Michael, who told him that PPE was taken away from the man who ultimately died of coronavirus. He stated that because of this practice the NHS has "lost a great man and great expertise".

"As we go forward, I hope things like pay disputes and efficiency runs will be looked at very sympathetically – I trust it will be." Andrew said.