NHS staff deserve so much more

THE only way this Easter Sunday is in any way like others is because of Easter eggs, the one foodstuff in plentiful supply.

That’s if overzealous police officers have not tried to yank them out of your supermarket trolleys.

There will be no Easter egg hunts other than in homes or back gardens.

And even churches will be shuttered and bolted on the most holy day of the year.

But in hospital wards and ICUs, today will be like any other for exhausted doctors and nurses battling to save lives.

We owe it to them to remain under lockdown and venture out only for necessities.

We also owe it to them to ensure they have everything they need. And it is becoming clearer that isn’t the case.

The Sunday Mirror is not in the business of scoring political points during a national emergency. But it is also our duty to speak truth to power – to highlight what is going wrong so it can speedily be put right.

There is not enough PPE. If there was, doctors and nurses would not have to wipe down and reuse the little they have, or fashion their own out of beekeeper suits.

If there was, care workers would not be toiling in nursing homes unprotected, or a care services charity spending £500,000 of precious donations to source its own.

There are not enough of the essential drugs needed to sedate patients on ventilators.

FEARS

If there were, doctors we spoke to last week would not be telling us of their fears these drugs are running out.

If there were, they wouldn’t have to contemplate making life-or-death decisions over who should have them and who should go without.

If there was enough of everything, vulnerable patients of all ages, their families and carers would not be pressured into signing Do Not Resuscitate forms.

We do not underestimate the logistical problems of getting vital supplies to all frontline workers who need it. We do question why they were not already there.

And it does not help when ministers claim everything is going according to plan when it is so plainly not.

When this is over, the NHS must be given the resources it needs so these kinds of shortages can never, ever happen again. And heroic doctors and nurses under intolerable pressure, daily risking their lives without hesitation, must get the pay rises they so richly deserve.

But as they fight on, the only weapon the rest of us have in our armoury against Covid-19 is to keep away from each other.

So be a good egg today and stay home. Lives depend on it.

And the NHS is depending on us.