Chair of the Doctor's Association UK, Dr. Rinesh Parmar, Speaks out in a recent Medscape article on supporting families of healthcare staff who die whilst caring for COVID-19 patients.
The Doctors' Association UK has found that some GPs have been told by local CCGs not to talk to the press and to avoid posting on social media about any shortages of PPE.
DAUK supports the Resuscitation Council UK stance on CPR and believes that CPR should be considered an Aerosol Generating Procedure requiring the highest level of PPE.
A PPE message to Prime Minister Boris Johnson was projected onto Parliament last night by Doctors Association UK (DAUK). In the video DAUK President Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden said: "The NHS saved your life. Now we need you to save ours. Doctors are dying. Nurses are dying. Just last week I lost one of my own colleagues to COVID-19. I can’t tell you what that feels like. It’s time for the Government to act and save the lives of those we clap for every single Thursday."
Doctors hold a vocation for everything that they do and feel a strong moral duty towards their patients. The dedication of NHS staff in this pandemic knows no bounds. However the government must recognise this commitment to the NHS and ensure doctors are adequately protected when putting themselves in harms way
Before the tragic loss ENT consultant Amged El-Hawrani, DAUK wrote to Health Secretary Matt Hancock asking him to ensure that doctors families will be provided for if a doctor dies after treating Covid-19 patients. DAUK President Dr Samantha Batt-Rawden said it was “morally unforgivable that at a time when we are asking UK doctors to put their lives on the line, that many have been told their families won’t be provided for in the event of their death”
Regarding mental health support, Dr Natalie Ashburner, wellbeing lead for DAUK commented: “It is encouraging that the need for increased mental health support is recognised. However, we hope that the concerns of those working in acute mental health services in terms of how to protect both staff and patients when treating coronavirus within mental health settings will be address in this guidance”
We have been working with the the GMC on supporting doctors to return to practice. Read this update with Medscape with Dr Rinesh Parmar, DAUK Chair.
