As the outbreak continues to grow in the UK, with 8,077 confirmed cases and 422 deaths, doctors say they are being forced to endanger their own health due to a nationwide shortage of the right equipment.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) includes masks, respirators, and gowns, and can help prevent transmission of the virus between medical staff and patients.
Dr Rinesh Parmar, chair of the Doctors’ Association UK, told the Guardian: “The longer this epidemic goes on for, if doctors feel that there is a widespread lack of personal protective equipment, then some doctors may feel they have no choice but to give up the profession they love, because they feel so abandoned by not being given the PPE that the World Health Organisation recommends.
“That’s the travesty of this situation, that the government needs to protect the frontline and in return health care workers will give 100%. But the government hasn’t kept its side of the bargain with NHS staff by not having enough PPE available to safeguard the health of doctors and nurses.”
