BMA chief calls for prioritising of care and adequate protection for doctors

The UK Government must prioritise the testing of doctors for coronavirus to ensure adequate staff levels during the pandemic, the British Medical Association has said.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the chairman of the Council of the BMA, said he “can’t emphasise enough how serious the problem is” if numerous healthcare workers self-isolate, and he urged the government to ensure GP practices can run “in a normal fashion”.

He added that the UK doesn’t have “the luxury of time any more” and called on Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock to provide healthcare workers with “clear, decisive plans” immediately.

“Our starting position unfortunately has been far worse than many other of our European nations – we have about a quarter of the critical care beds that Germany has, as an example, so it’s really critical, it’s really important that we now see transparently what plans the government has to expand that capacity,” Dr Nagpaul told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday.

Asked if he is more worried about the situation now than two weeks ago, he said: “Of course I’m worried, I mean I said two weeks ago that this situation could change on a daily basis and in fact that is exactly what has happened.

“We are in a very different place compared to two weeks ago. In fact, when we met we had about 20-odd cases. That is why I don’t think we have the luxury of time any more.

“I represent doctors, they need to be kept healthy, to be protected, because if we have any reduction in our workforce we won’t be able to provide the care patients need.”

“Before the outbreak we were 10,000 doctors short, so we’re very worried and the doctors I represent are very concerned that they don’t, for example, have adequate protection.

“GPs for example have paper masks of a low effectiveness – they’re worried that when they’re seeing patients in their clinics at close proximity they might get infected and if they do, they’ll be off work,” Dr Nagpaul said.

He added that “the other priority must be rapid testing of doctors”.

“I can’t emphasise how serious the problem is if you’ve got doctors off work. In a GP surgery with three or four doctors, if two are self-isolating that could prevent the practice running in a normal fashion,” he said.

Discussing the lack of ventilators in the UK in comparison to other countries, Dr Nagpaul said the UK now needs to “make some really decisive decisions on how that limited resource is used in the best possible way for those who are going to need it”.

“And that may require, and it should require actually, some major decisions on ceasing non-urgent routine care, a mass move towards many more consultations occurring remotely,” he said.