Indian doctors answer UK call for retired medics
LONDON: Thousands of Indian doctors on Friday began preparing to answer the UK government's call for recently retired medics to return to work and assist the over-burdened National Health Service (NHS) battling with the rapidly increasing cases of Coronavirus which has claimed 144 lives across Britain.
The UK'S Department for Health has started sending out formal letters to over 65,000 retired doctors and nurses in England and Wales, asking them to return to the NHS to help tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
To further boost the ranks of our the NHS, we are now turning to people who have recently left the healthcare professions who can bring their experience and expertise to our health system. Your NHS needs you, said UK health secretary Matt Hancock.
The British Association of
Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO), the representative body for Indian-origin doctors in the UK, said it has already started receiving messages and calls of support from among its membership.
These are exceptional and extraordinary times and we are here to assist the health service as much as possible. We are advising our recently retired doctors to return to work, of course with the provision that if any of them are unwell or have a chronic illness they must follow the government advice and self isolate, said BAPIO President Dr Ramesh Mehta, who is himself self isolating.
The response we have had is very much that these professionals are keen to assist but there is some natural anxiety among family members of their exposure to such a deadly virus. Our hope is that they would not be deployed to the absolute frontline but be put in place as the second line of medical help within the NHS, he said.
Meanwhile, the Indian High Commission in London is offering assistance with organising accommodation for Indian nationals stranded in the UK in light of India's ban on travellers from the UK and Europe over Coronavirus pandemic.
The mission had already set up an email system for Indian passport holders to get in touch with details of their situation and has continued to field hundreds of calls and social media messages from Indian professionals and students desperate to return home.