UK ‘WORST IN EUROPE’
» Expert warns as Brit death toll goes over 10,000 » Government’s safety kit boasts anger NHS heroes » TV legend Tim is a victim as 737 more die in 24hrs
BRITAIN’S coronavirus death toll could become Europe’s worst, an expert warned. The grim forecast by Sir Jeremy Farrar comes as UK fatalities rose by 737 to 10,612. Boris Johnson yesterday left hospital, praising NHS staff. But there was fury after Matt Hancock claimed “record” protective kit is available, denied by doctors. Comedian Tim Brooke-Taylor has died from Covid-19.
BORIS Johnson heaped praise on our “unconquerable” NHS after leaving hospital following his coronavirus battle yesterday.
The Prime Minister said there was “no question” it had saved his life after he contracted the deadly disease.
Appearing emotional in a video shortly after discharge, he admitted there had been 48 hours in which things “could have gone either way”.
The Tory leader also admitted his seven days at St Thomas’ Hospital in Central London had made him realise the “pressure the NHS is under”.
But he insisted it was going to get us through the Covid-19 crisis.
Mr Johnson said: “We will win because our NHS is the beating heart of this country. It is the best of this country. It is unconquerable. It is powered by love. I have left hospital after a week in which the NHS has saved my life, no question. It’s hard to find the words to express my debt.”
Mr Johnson also thanked the public for heeding guidance on social
distancing to help boost the NHS’s fight, saying: “I want to thank everyone in the UK for the effort and the sacrifice you have made and are making. I do believe your efforts are worth it and are daily proving their worth.
“We are making progress in this national battle because the British public formed a human shield around this country’s greatest national asset – our National Health Service.”
But as the PM delivered his warm words, it remained to be seen if his eye-opening experience would result in a policy rethink.
Mr Johnson was criticised when he voted against scrapping the 1% pay-rise cap for nurses in 2017.
And before the coronavirus hit, a decade of his party underfunding the NHS had led to a drastic drop in hospital bed numbers – and an estimated shortage of 43,000 nurses.
But the PM yesterday praised the “utterly brilliant” doctors who treated him and told of the “astonishing” care he had from nurses at St Thomas’ – where he spent three of his seven nights in intensive care.
And he told of the particular debt he owed to Jenny McGee, from Invercargill on New Zealand’s South Island, and Luis Pitarma, from near Porto in Portugal. The PM described them as “two nurses who stood by my bedside for 48 hours when things could have gone either way”.
He said: “The reason in the end my body did start to get enough oxygen was because for every second they were watching and they were thinking and they were caring and making the interventions I needed.”
Mr Johnson also listed essential staff including cleaners, cooks and all healthcare workers who had shown “personal courage” by continuing to work and “risking this deadly virus”. He said: “It is thanks to that courage, that devotion, that duty and that love that our NHS has been unbeatable.”
Pregnant fiancee Carrie Symonds, believed to have had the virus too, also paid tribute to the “magnificent NHS” after Mr Johnson’s discharge.
The 32-year-old said: “I will never, ever be able to repay you and I will never stop thanking you. There were times last week that were very dark indeed. My heart goes out to all those in similar situations, worried sick about their loved ones.”
Doctors have told him not to return to work immediately and he is recuperating with Ms Symonds at Chequers, the PM’s country residence in Buckinghamshire.
Dad Stanley Johnson said he was delighted at him leaving hospital, adding: “I realise now – I think the whole country realises – how close he came to a crisis situation and it is wonderful he has come out of that crisis. “It is wonderful that the NHS was able to help him and I think he has also paid tribute to them.” Dr Ian Abbs, chief DARK DAYS Fiancee Carrie
executive at Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “It is a great credit to the exceptional professionalism of clinical teams, as well as everyone in the wider organisation, that we have been able to care for the Prime Minister so effectively, whilst continuing to deliver equally high standards of care to all of our patients.”
He added that thoughts must “turn immediately to those who still need our help at this time”. And he reiterated the plea for people to “stay at home to help us save lives and protect the NHS”.
As the crisis continues, pressure is mounting for our NHS and care heroes to get proper recognition.
Asked about a pay rise for nurses last week, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “I’m very sympathetic to that argument but now is not the moment to enter into a pay negotiation. Now is the moment for everybody to be doing their very best.”
But on Friday, Foreign Secretary
Dominic Raab, deputising for the PM, suggested NHS staff deserved a rise.
He said: “There will be a moment when we look at how we formally recognise all of those on the front line who have done so much to pull us through this very difficult period.”
During the general election in December, Mr Johnson pledged an extra £34billion for the NHS by 202324, which he said would represent the “biggest increase in modern memory”.
But adjusted for inflation, it worked out at £20.5bn – which had already been announced by predecessor Theresa May and is a smaller rise than under other recent governments.
The row over funding comes after the Tory Government quietly sold off parts of the NHS. In 2013, 80% of the stateowned blood plasma supplier was flogged to US private equity firm Bain Capital for $200million (£161m). The move came despite the contaminated blood scandal, in which more than 4,500 haemophiliacs became infected with hepatitis and HIV in the 1970s and 1980s after being poisoned by blood products bought on the cheap from abroad.
In 2016, our plasma supplier was sold on to a Chinese company for £820million, along with the Government’s remaining 20% stake.
Now is not the moment to enter into a pay negotiation
HEALTH SECRETARY ON GIVING NURSES A PAY RISE