The crowdfunder fighting to hold the government accountable for NHS staff deaths
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“Never be a spectator to unfairness or stupidity; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence.” – Christopher Hitchens
In recent weeks, it has become customary to switch on the TV, watch as the daily death toll creep up, and our ministers embarrass themselves in their daily press briefings. Watching this unfold, I realised I could no longer be an observer. Weeks of concern had now transformed into a focused fury.
Someone had to be held accountable.
Matt Hancock unwittingly let slip live on-air last week that the guidelines have been based on the government’s failure to supply PPE. It has been notable and suspicious that since the pandemic, our government’s guidelines have encouraged us to wear safety gear of a lower standard. This reckless planning and execution has cost the lives of so many healthcare workers across the country.
As doctors and scientists, we are professionals in our field. It is an insult to our intelligence when politicians try to tell us that plastic aprons and a single surgical mask when serving canteen dinner, is protecting us - let alone when treating patients in a coronavirus ‘hot zone’ in hospital.
It begs the question: has the government knowingly put us in this dangerous situation? Have healthcare workers died as a result of gross negligence from the government?
We believe that the government is failing to protect frontline NHS workers because of a lack of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE).
This is because:
1). UK PPE guidance falls short of standards set by the WHO.
2). The government has not taken adequate steps to address the PPE shortage.
Tragically, over 100 healthcare workers have already died from coronavirus, and countless more are infected. This has disproportionately affected workers of a black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) background.
This is a breach of the government’s international obligation to protect the lives of healthcare workers under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
We want the government to act now to remedy the current shortages in PPE, and to clarify its guidance.
We are fighting for our protection, yet we are being silenced in our own hospitals and being threatened by managers. I am watching my colleagues die, I am watching their families suffer, and I am being told that I have to be silent.
We were promised a post-Brexit utopia where British textile manufacturers would once again be the envy of the world, and yet we are left to desperately fly over gowns from Burma, while our own factory workers are twiddling their thumbs.
It was one death that hit close to home: Mary Agyeiwaa Agyapong, a 28-year-old nurse from Luton who died from coronavirus after her baby was delivered by emergency caesarean section. She left her new-born baby in neonatal ICU, and she will never know who her mother is.
I am seven months pregnant.
How can I, as a pregnant, South Asian woman be the voice for everyone else? Why would anybody listen to me? Despite the pressure to not speak up, I knew that I had to try. It was the least I could do. I feel that anything less would be a dereliction of my duty as a doctor. My NHS colleagues are my family, I see them more than I see my parents, and my husband, how can I allow them to go into the line of fire with a plastic apron?
None of my extended family knew I was pregnant. After this protest, I knew that family members would find out through newspapers rather than personal phone calls. I was concerned about what my family members might think, at a time when my priority should have been completely focused on fighting for my colleagues across the country.
Healthcare workers are dying, and my own colleagues are walking into work with the fear that they are putting their lives at risk. I drew a line and decided to speak up - I thought it would be best to deal with the consequences later.
I learned a very important lesson: the bigger my dreams, and the bigger goals I have, the less time and energy I have for those who are not willing to understand.
Please support our fundraiser: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/nhs-ppe/