Doctor dies weeks after warning PM over virus
A senior doctor has died from coronavirus three weeks after pleading with the Prime Minister for better protection against the disease. Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury died in hospital early yesterday. On March 18, he asked Boris Johnson “urgently” to ensure PPE was available for “each and every NHS worker”. Three days later, the 53-year-old fell ill. Last night, his family said he had devoted his life to helping others but had ultimately been “failed by the system”.
A SENIOR doctor died from coronavirus three weeks after pleading with the Prime Minister for better protection against the disease.
Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, a consultant urologist, died in hospital early yesterday. On March 18, he asked Boris Johnson “urgently” to ensure personal protective equipment (PPE) was available for “each and every NHS worker”.
Three days later, the 53-year-old fell ill and died at 1am yesterday in intensive care at Queen’s Hospital, Romford. He leaves behind two children and his wife Rehana, with whom he recently celebrated a 25th wedding anniversary.
Last night his family said he had devoted his life to helping others but had ultimately been “failed by the system”.
At least 20 NHS workers have died since the outbreak. Yesterday The Daily Telegraph revealed three nurses forced to wear bin bags as protection had all since tested positive for the virus. Police, care workers and postal workers have also criticised the failure to keep key workers safe.
Dr Chowdhury was born in Bangladesh and came to the UK in the late Nineties, eventually becoming consultant urologist at Homerton Teaching Hospital in east London. In his message to Mr Johnson on social media, he wrote: “Please ensure urgently PPE for each and every NHS health worker in the UK. Remember we may be doctors/nurses/hcas/allied health workers who are in direct contact with patients, but we are also human beings.
“People appreciate us and salute us for our rewarding job, which are very inspirational, but I would like to say, we have to protect ourselves and our families/kids in this global disaster/crisis by using appropriate PPE and remedies.”
Last night Mir-rashed Ahmed, his brother-in-law, said the pleas for better PPE had been ignored by ministers.
“My brother-in-law seems to have been failed by the system,” he said.
“Before he died, he told me that the Government is moving very slowly and that the NHS was in real trouble. We had the experience from China and Italy, but we didn’t do enough.” Mr Ahmed said Dr Chowdhury began feeling ill on March 21. “I remember him telling me that he had a fever, but it was very unusual and he’d never experienced anything like it before,” he said.
He admitted himself to hospital after developing breathing problems. “After around eight days they put a tube through a hole in his throat to help him breathe. The doctors then called to say he appeared to be getting better, and the temperature was going away. Then the day before yesterday the doctors called his wife and said his condition was deteriorating, and could she come to the hospital please. Last night she got a call to say he had passed away.”
Among other victims identified yesterday was Fayaz Ayache, 76, a GP in Suffolk for more than 40 years, who died on Wednesday. And Dr Paul Matewele, a microbiologist who lectured at London Metropolitan University, died at Barnet Hospital. Dr Edmond Adedeji, 62, died at Great Western Hospital in Swindon, Wilts, where he worked. A spokesman for No 10 said ministers were “confident” that sufficient PPE was now reaching the front line. About 33million items were delivered to 269 trusts and organisations in England on Wednesday, taking the total past 600 million items over the past month.
“We’re confident that enough supply is now reaching the front line, but if there are distribution problems then we need to address them straight away,” the spokesman added.