GP ‘sacrificed his life for his patients’
Doctor, 76, dies hours after being taken ill, prompting more questions about protective equipment
A FAMILY GP, thought to be the first doctor in the UK to be killed by coronavirus, sacrificed his life for his patients, his daughter has said.
Dr Habib Zaidi, 76, died in intensive care at Southend Hospital, Essex, on
Wednesday, 24 hours after being taken ill. It comes amid increasing concerns that GPS are seeing patients without wearing adequate personal protective equipment (PPE).
Dr Zaidi’s Covid-19 test results have not yet returned, but his daughter, Dr Sarah Zaidi, who is also a GP, said he showed “textbook symptoms”.
She said: “He was treated as a definitive case. There is little clinical doubt it is coronavirus, the test result is academic. For that to be the thing that took him is too much to bear. It is reflective of his sacrifice. He had a vocational attitude to service.”
Dr Zaidi had been self-isolating at home and had not seen patients for a week. His wife, Dr Talat Zaidi, 70, is now in quarantine and unable to grieve with her family.
The couple were managing partners of Eastwood Group Practice, where their daughter also works. She told the BBC: “He left a gaping hole in our hearts, but a loss that is also felt within the community that he devoted almost his entire life to.”
Dr Zaidi served three generations of families in the area for nearly 50 years. Last year, he was given a lifetime achievement award by his NHS trust and the previous year he won an excellence award from the NHS Southend
Clinical Commissioning Group, which said he was “highly revered by staff and patients alike”.
Many of his patients paid tribute yesterday. One, identified only as Iris, broke down as she told a local radio station that she had been seeing him since he first moved to the UK from Pakistan almost 50 years ago. She said: “I remember the last time I saw him, which was two weeks ago, just before all this, and he said to me ‘Keep strong’. It’s so sad.”
The Royal College of GPS (RCGP) has called for definitive guidance from the Government about the appropriate use of PPE for its members.
The Mid Essex NHS Trust said it would await Dr Zaidi’s test results before commenting.
Scores of medics and key workers have fallen ill with coronavirus or reported having symptoms.
Two GPS warned of the dangers yesterday as they described how they believe they contracted the virus while seeing patients. Dr Claire Taylor, who is self isolating at home with shortness of breath, a cough and a fever, told the BBC: “I saw patients that were not seen as high risk and yet I’ve picked up Covid. We need all medical professionals to be given proper personal protection when they’re face-to-face with any patient. I feel very strongly about this.”
Another, who recently treated a man with a head injury at her north London practice, said that when the patient was referred to hospital he tested positive for coronavirus.
The GP now has symptoms herself, although has not been tested.