A British-Indian doctor has written an open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, urging him to "repay" frontline health workers "through a well-funded and sustainable health and social care system".
Professor Minesh Khashu, a neonatal consultant from Dorset in south-west England, stressed that medical workers, who were being hero-worshipped, needed basic amenities more than lip service.
He also highlighted some missed opportunities in the handling of the crisis, and pointed to countries such as Germany getting a grip on testing for the deadly virus while the UK lagged far behind.
“The best way to repay us is through a well-funded and sustainable health and social care system. While the Covid-19 crisis has suddenly woken everyone up to realise that we need admiration and hero worship, what we really need is a well-funded system and basic amenities to look after ourselves at work,” wrote Khashu.
In reference to the initial handling to the outbreak in the UK, he noted: “Strategically it would have made more sense to utilise initially the armed forces and reserves, rather than the acute hospitals and the already stretched ambulance sector, to look after Covid cases in specific military health institutions.
“This was an ideal opportunity to use the armed forces personnel and hospitals to segregate Covid cases from general public and would have worked much better. We need to ask ourselves why this wasn't done.”
The doctor on the frontline of the coronavirus fightback said that the open letter, published in The Daily Mirror on Wednesday (22), had been issued at a personal level as he went on to challenge the “damaging” equation of the pandemic with war analogies and rhetoric.
“It has given the system powers to command and control without any transparency and discussion regarding decision making,” he said.
“It is this war analogy that has led to people dying in hospital without any near or dear ones by their side.
“This is perhaps the most devastating and cruel effect of our war rhetoric. There is no reason why one should not have been allowed to visit a dying partner or parent with full PPE (personal protective equipment) protection, if one wished to do so.”
Khashu called for a thorough scrutiny of "why we have failed on so many levels" and retrospection.
"Moreover, the lack of a genuine apology from your Cabinet colleagues for the shambolic way in which PPE has been managed and care homes have been turned into slaughter houses, begs for some soul searching and brings into disrepute the culture within government,” he said.
On a personal note, Khashu is commended Johnson's message to the NHS after being discharged, and wished his pregnant partner, Carrie Symonds, good health.
“While I have always admired your intelligence, your single mindedness, decisiveness and power of persuasion, your post hospital discharge video message brought forth two further attributes which many of us had not witnessed earlier: a degree of vulnerability and simple, genuine and sincere words. These are quite endearing in a leader and hope they serve you well in the coming years,” he said.
“I wish you a speedy recovery. I wish you and Carrie all the best for the rest of the pregnancy and best wishes for the new arrival. If the critical illness hasn't transformed you enough, I am sure fatherhood will.”
