EXCLUSIVE: As the Omicron variant spreads, front line doctors warn of the WORST HEALTH CRISIS IN 20 YEARS
By Barnie ChoudhuryDec 09, 2021
A senior emergency doctor has warned that NHS staff are dealing with the worst health crisis in 20 years.
They are under so much pressure more health workers than ever are quitting front line medicine for other hospital jobs.
Dr Joydeep Grover, a consultant who has worked in emergency medicine in the UK for almost two decades, and vice chair of operations at the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO), described it as a “system wide issue” in the National Health Service.
He told Eastern Eye, “This is the busiest and the most prolonged period of increased pressure on the system that I've seen in decades of working for the NHS.
“It is sustained, it is relentless, and it is putting all of the system in immense, immense stress.
“We are more than almost full. It's astounding. I've never seen anything like this for such a sustained period of time.”
(Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Grover said his colleagues and he were professionals, but they were dealing with a “sheer increase in number of patients” coming to his emergency department in Bristol.
“We are seeing a turnover of 15 to 20 per cent of nursing staff, for example, which is more than what we would normally expect.
“Similarly, with junior doctors as well, many are deciding just to do locum [work].
“The problem is not having anywhere for patients to go to when we've seen them, so there's a system wide issue.
“For example, a patient comes to you, they come to the emergency department, get triaged, get sorted, have the life changing interventions done, and then they move into either going home or to the rest of the hospital where they get the further treatment.
“Now, what we are faced with is patients coming into the emergency department but not having a bed to go to for 10, 12 hours, sometimes longer, which means that our departments are full of people who are waiting for a bed in the hospital.
“Which then means is that there are patients out in the ambulances who we can't offload as quickly or as promptly as we would like to, which means that the ambulances then are unable to go and attend new emergencies they get called for.
“The capacity of the system is not enough to deal with the demands on it at this point of time.
Failing communities
The consultant’s warnings match those of the MP for Tooting, Dr Rosena Allin-Khan.
The parliamentarian is also an accident and emergency doctor.
The government, she said, was failing south Asian, black and white-working class communities.
“The fact that people are still unsure of what's happening,” said Allin-Khan. “They don't know how their jobs are going to be affected.
“If they call into work sick, there isn't proper sick pay. The people want to feel assured that they can be safe.
“There isn't a real push on vaccinations and boosters, and we need urgent action on vaccinations.
“Not only do we need to turbocharge the rollout of boosters, that we're still waiting to get info as to when under-14s will get them.
“The government needs to be also talking to those who are vaccine hesitant, and we know that among certain communities, there's greater hesitation, owing to a lack of government trust building.
“The government simply hasn't done enough to reach these communities and are failing them over and over and over again.”
Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, MP (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
Previously the health secretary, Sajid Javid, had told Eastern Eye that he wanted south Asians and other communities to get doubled-jabbed and to take booster jabs.
He told parliament on Monday (6) that on Saturday (4), the NHS recorded 450,000 booster jabs in one day, hitting the 20 million mark.
But that does not seem to be evident on the NHS front line.
“We are seeing predominantly a lot of Covid coming through unvaccinated people which constitute nearly 80 per cent of Covid that we see nowadays,” Grover told Eastern Eye.
“Almost all of severe Covid is in the non-vaccinated group. They need to take some personal responsibility for their own lives. They've had the opportunity to have the vaccination.
“[It] is safe and it helps you, and if people are still not willing to take it, I really don't know what else can anyone do about it.”
Double shame
He described it as “a double shame”.
“If you don't get vaccinated not only are you putting your own lives at risk, and thereby of your dependents and your family members, but also you're ending up in intensive care.
“There are so many examples of 25 per cent of our intensive care being full of Covid which means that complex brain surgeries, heart surgeries and other very, very sick people who would require intensive care as part of their problems which have been ongoing are not able to get those surgeries.
“Their lives are being blighted because the care that should have been available to them is now being used up for people who have a completely preventable disease.”
Health secretary Sajid Javid speaks with staff as he visits the vaccine centre at Guy's and St Thomas Hospital amid Omicron coronavirus variant concerns in London. Rick Findler/Pool via REUTERS
Javid warned MPs that the new Omicron variant continued to spread in Britain and around the world.
“According to the latest data, there are now 261 confirmed cases in England, 71 in Scotland and four in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases across the UK to 336,” Javid told MPs.
“This includes cases with no links to international travel, so we can conclude that there is now community transmission across multiple regions of England.
“Beyond our shores, confirmed Omicron cases have now been reported in 52 countries, with 11 countries including Romania, Mexico and Chile all reporting their first cases this weekend.
“This is a global battle, and we are playing a leading role.”
South Asian deaths
Analysis by Eastern Eye suggests that in the past 10 weeks, 308 south Asians have died from Covid, which means that on average more than four passed every day.
These figures will not take account of the new Omicron variant because they are based on those who tested for Covid and died within 28 days.
The government has added Nigeria to the “red list” of countries. This means border officers will refuse entry to anyone who is not a UK or Irish citizen.
Those who are citizens must isolate in a so-called quarantine hotel for 10 days.
Last week, the government made compulsory mask wearing in shops, shopping centres and public transport.
Despite all these measures, emergency doctors told Eastern Eye that the public no longer trusted the government.
“Over the last year and a half, there have been so many changes in policy, so many flip flops, and not really being led by example,” said consultant, Dr Joydeep Grover.
“So, I'm afraid that the government has lost its credibility, they don't have a trust of the public, which is completely their own doing.
“They haven't really managed to have a cohesive, reliable, and confidence building platform over the last couple of years.
“I suspect, the public will not be fully compliant with what the government asked them to do, and that's a shame because masks work.”
Lack of leadership
It is a point reinforced by the Tooting MP and A&E doctor, Rosena Allin-Khan.
“It's not good enough for Boris Johnson and Sajid Javid to say, well, everyone must do the right thing or, like last week, in my statement response to Sajid Javid on the issue of keeping everybody safe, I pointed to Tory backbenchers where they were not wearing masks.
“Politicians cannot expect people to enforce mask wearing if they don't lead by example.
“They should do it and make the case for the fact that it protects all of us, and if we had done this, if we'd improved ventilation and sorted out sick pay, I don't think we would have as many cases as we do at the moment.”
Allin-Khan said the current situation had been caused by “a failure of communication, fundamentally born out of a lack of political will” leading to mental health problems.
“I have the mental health portfolio [for Labour],” she told Eastern Eye. “I have done mental health meetings, and I know just how difficult it's been for people and how insecure it's been for them.
“There are two things here. Firstly, it's been a lack of doing things like continuing to wear a mask, having holes in our defences on international travel.
“Those sorts of things have meant that we are in a more precarious situation now than we were before leading there to have more discussion about potentially introducing restrictions.
“The second thing is that nobody wants there to be restrictions. But people need to be supported, particularly because of a lack of a government getting a grip the first time.”
An MP’s personal experience
To fully understand the true effect on our communities of Omicron, we need to just go back and look at how the government have handled the whole pandemic overall. In general, I worked in intensive care as well as the emergency department over all of the waves of the pandemic.
I've never given up my practice in A&E, while being a while being a politician. For me, it was never more important than to do more work than ever on the frontline. Working in the intensive care unit was where I saw the full effect of how our communities, and how the government had woefully mishandled this whole crisis.
Walking into the intensive care units and seeing rows and rows and rows of beds, full of our working-class communities, our Asian communities and black communities, it was absolutely heart-breaking because it was very obvious that Covid had shone a spotlight on the inequalities that already existed within our communities. It was there to see in technicolour, and deeply, deeply distressing. I was part of the family support liaison team, so I was the sort of the linchpin between the patient who was on a ventilator, and their family members. I remember talking to these families and asking them if they had messages to pass on to their loved ones, and just the heart-breaking messages and promising that you take them to the bedside and tell these people who were unconscious that their fathers and daughters and grandchildren were all rooting for them.
When that sort of progressed on to taking iPads to bedsides, and just seeing whole groups of families just crying and begging the patient to wake up or just seeing young children crying for their parents and shouting for them to wake up. I remember going home, after my shifts, just thinking, we have a government that allowed this to happen. They allow this to happen, and they are also blaming some communities for the spread, and I don't think enough was ever done to really risk assess what it was like for certain communities.
White working class, Asian communities, black communities, and not providing proper PPE [personal protective equipment], the inequalities that already existed, which meant that black and Asian people were asked to go in and clean rooms where people had died of Covid without PPE, because there wasn't enough to go around. All of these things were just visible to me every shift. Some of the real catastrophes for me as well was the lack of appropriate messaging in languages that would have meant that some of the public health messages would have got out sooner where that where there needed to be. There needed to be more effort in getting into our mosques or temples or gurudwaras. Asian communities were painted out as being these multi occupancy houses that don't care about spreading Covid. How are they supposed to know if English isn't their first language, and they don't happen to watch the News at Ten?
Q: What about now, what do you see?
A: What I see happening right now is the fact that people are still unsure of what's happening. They don't know how their jobs are going to be affected. If they call into work sick, there isn't proper sick pay the people need to feel assured that they can be safe.
The message from a front line doctor
Please do get vaccinated. You hear a lot of stories about vaccinations causing problems and issues. What you must realise is that everything, every side effect the vaccine causes, actual Covid causes 1000 times worse. So, whatever harm you get from the vaccine is minimal, if at all any, but the harm from Covid is absolutely real. It is very, very important to be sensible, and not regret it later because each and every patient who I've seen who has not been vaccinated whose had Covid in the last few months, I've asked them, and every one of them has regretted not taking the vaccine each and every one of them, and we've seen hundreds of them. Without vaccination, your chances are much worse.
Keep the faith. Be gentle with the healthcare system. Make your voice heard. But keep supporting each other. Take care of your families. More than anything else. This pandemic, one important thing that it is telling us is how we support each other and how we are nice to each other because ultimately, it is the societal attitudes and our community spirit which will take us through this.
An urgent warning has been issued in the UK after several popular Jolly Rancher sweet products were recalled due to the presence of banned ingredients linked to cancer. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has confirmed that certain products, including Jolly Rancher Hard Candy, ‘Misfits’ Gummies, Hard Candy Fruity 2 in 1, and Berry Gummies, are affected.
These sweets, produced by American confectionery giant Hershey, were found to contain Mineral Oil Aromatic Hydrocarbons (MOAH) and Mineral Oil Saturated Hydrocarbon (MOSH), both of which are derived from crude oil and have been associated with serious health risks, including cancer.
Products removed but some still on sale
Hershey has informed UK authorities that it has taken steps to withdraw the affected products from the British market. However, the FSA has warned that some Jolly Rancher sweets containing these harmful substances are still being sold in shops, and local authorities have been urged to act.
Consumers are advised not to eat them and to dispose of them safelyiStock
The FSA stated: “Consumption of the affected sweets is of toxicological concern, especially in younger age groups and where consumers eat a lot of the products or eat them regularly.”
Consumers who have purchased the recalled items are advised not to eat them and to dispose of them safely. While the risk to individuals who have already consumed the sweets is considered low, the presence of MOAH and MOSH means they are not compliant with UK food safety laws.
Growing concerns over US imports
The Jolly Rancher recall is the latest in a series of warnings about American food products being sold in the UK with banned or harmful ingredients. Earlier this year, various sweets, drinks, and snacks imported from the United States – including Fanta Pineapple, Mountain Dew, Swedish Fish, Prime Hydration, Cheetos Crunchy, and Twizzlers – were found to contain substances not approved in the UK.
Among the banned additives were brominated vegetable oil (BVO), used in Mountain Dew, and Red Dye 3, a colouring found in jelly beans and preserved cherries. White mineral oil, also used in many US-made sweets, was another concerning ingredient.
Dr Pepper recall raises additional alarm
Separately, US authorities have recalled over 19,000 cans of Dr Pepper Zero Sugar due to mislabelling. The product, manufactured by Pepsi Beverages Company, was found to contain sugar despite being marketed as sugar-free. The error poses significant risks to individuals with diabetes or those who need to control their sugar intake.
Initially labelled as a voluntary recall, the incident has now been escalated to a Class II recall by the US Food and Drug Administration, meaning consumption may lead to temporary or medically reversible adverse health effects.
Health risks of hidden ingredients
These recent incidents have drawn attention to the growing trend of importing American products into the UK without full compliance checks. Experts warn that continued exposure to banned or mislabelled ingredients can pose long-term health risks, especially for vulnerable groups such as children and people with chronic health conditions.
The FSA continues to monitor the situation and has urged consumers to remain vigilant, particularly when buying imported food and drink products online or from independent retailers.
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Rescue and relief work underway following the Air India plane crash, in Ahmedabad. (PTI Photo)
ONE survivor walked away from the Air India aircraft that crashed at Ahmedabad airport earlier this morning (12), according to the latest reports from India.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, 40, a UK national, was in seat 11A of the Air India Flight 171 bound for London Gatwick when it crashed shortly after take off from Ahmedabad with 242 people on board.
Initial reports suggested there were no survivors following the accident.
However, Kumar Ramesh was quoted as saying that seconds after take-off, “there was a loud noise and then the plane crashed”.
He told local media in India, “When I got up, there were bodies all around me. I was scared. I stood up and ran.
“There were pieces of the plane all around me. Someone grabbed hold of me and put me in an ambulance and brought me to the hospital.”
Two other British passengers believed to have been travelling on the aircraft were named as Fiongal and Jamie Greenlaw-Meek, who run a spiritual wellness centre and yoga studio in south London.
They spoke of their “magical experience” in India, adding they experienced “mind-blowing things”.
British Indian businessman Surinder Arora told Sky News a distant family member was on board the aircraft.
The UK government said it was sending a team to support the investigation into the Air India crash in Ahmedabad.
Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, survivor of the Air India plane crash, in Ahmedabad. (PTI photo)
In a statement, the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said it “has formally offered its assistance to the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, India.
“We are deploying a multidisciplinary investigation team to India to support the Indian led investigation.”
Britain has set up crisis teams in Delhi and London to support the families of those on board the Air India Flight 171, foreign secretary David Lammy informed parliament.
“My thoughts and I’m sure those of the entire House are with those who have been affected by the tragic plane crash in India this morning,” Lammy told MPs.
“We know that British nationals were on board and I can confirm that the FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) is working urgently with local authorities to support British nationals and their families, and has stood up a crisis team in both Delhi and in London,” he said.
The Tata Group said will provide Rs 10 million (£95,000) to the family of each person who died in the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
In the message posted by Tata Group on X, the company said it will cover the medical expenses of those injured and ensure that they receive all necessary care and support.
"Additionally, we will provide support in the building up of the BJ Medical's hostel,” Tata Group and Air India chairman N Chandrasekaran said.
"We remain steadfast in standing with the affected families and communities during this unimaginable time," he said.
A US government agency that investigates civil aviation accidents said it would lead a team of American investigators to India to assist in the investigation of the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in a post on X that it will be “leading a team of US investigators travelling to India to assist the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau with its investigation into the crash of an Air India Boeing 787 in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday.”
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It added that as per international protocols under the International Civil Aviation Organisation, all information on the investigation will be provided by the Government of India.
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FILE PHOTO: Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani. (PTI Photo)
FORMER Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani was believed to be on board the London-bound Air India plane that crashed near the Ahmedabad airport soon after take-off on Thursday (12), a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said.
"Vijay Rupani was going to London by the Air India flight," senior BJP leader Bhupendrasinh Chudasama told reporters in Ahmedabad. "I am going to the city civil hospital to inquire about him," he added.
The plane was headed for Gatwick Airport and the passengers included 217 adults, 11 children and two infants. Air India said 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian.
Rescue workers said at least 30 to 35 bodies had been recovered from the site and that more people were trapped.
Thick black plumes of acrid smoke towered high above Ahmedabad airport on Thursday after the London-bound passenger jet with 242 people aboard crashed shortly after takeoff earlier in the day.
A reporter in the city said the plane crashed in an area between a hospital and the city’s Ghoda Camp neighbourhood.
Passengers included 217 adults, 11 children and two infants (PTI photo)
Authorities said it went down outside the airport perimeter, in a crowded residential area, which local media said included a hostel where medical students and young doctors live.
"When we reached the spot there were several bodies lying around and firefighters were dousing the flames," Poonam Patni told AFP. "Many of the bodies were burned."
Another resident, who declined to be named, said: "We saw people from the building jumping from the second and third floor to save themselves. The plane was in flames.
"We helped people get out of the building and sent the injured to the hospital."
Photographs released by India's Central Industrial Security Force, a paramilitary police force, showed a large chunk of the plane that had smashed through the brick and concrete wall of a building.
Visuals showed people being moved in stretchers and being taken away in ambulances.
"My sister-in-law was going to London. Within an hour, I got news that the plane had crashed," Poonam Patel, a relative of one of the passengers, told news agency ANI at the government hospital in Ahmedabad.
Ramila, the mother of a student at the medical college, told ANI her son had gone to the hostel for his lunch break when the plane crashed. "My son is safe, and I have spoken to him. He jumped from the second floor, so he suffered some injuries," she said.
People stand near the debris of the Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad (PTI photo)
Aviation tracking site Flightradar24 said the plane was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, one of the most modern passenger aircraft in service.
It was the first crash for the Dreamliner, which began flying commercially in 2011, according to the Aviation Safety Network database. The plane that crashed on Thursday flew for the first time in 2013 and was delivered to Air India in January 2014, Flightradar24 said.
Boeing said it was aware of initial reports and was working to gather more information.
Ahmedabad Airport is operated by India's Adani Group conglomerate.
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"We are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragedy of Air India Flight 171," Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of the group, posted on X.
"Our hearts go out to the families who have suffered an unimaginable loss. We are working closely with all authorities and extending full support to the families on the ground," he said.
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Police said they had collected 204 dead bodies (PTI photo)
All 242 passengers on board believed to have been killed in the Air India crash AI-171 in Ahmedabad
Air India passenger hotline numbers - 1800 5691 444 and for foreign nationals +91 8062779200
There were 169 Indian passengers, 53 British, seven Portuguese, and a Canadian on board the flight bound for London Gatwick
Contact @HCI_London on the emergency number 07768765035 with regard to emergency visa assistance to travel to India if needed
POLICE in Ahmedabad said they had collected 204 dead bodies after the London-bound Air India aircraft with 242 people on board crashed into residential buildings after takeoff on Thursday (12).
“We have found 204 bodies,” city police commissioner GS Malik said, adding that 41 injured people were “under treatment”.
The dead included those from the plane crash and from buildings into which the plane smashed.
“Rescue work is ongoing,” he said.
The crash was the first ever for a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a source familiar with the matter said. Boeing, the American planemaker, said it was ready to support Air India following the crash.
"We are in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them," said a Boeing statement. "Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected."
Several videos posted on social media showed the aircraft rapidly losing altitude - with its nose up - before it hit a building and exploded into an orange ball of fire.
Damage at a building after an Air India plane crashed moments after taking off from the airport, in Ahmedabad. (PTI Photo)
Authorities said it went down outside the airport perimeter, in a crowded residential area while a reporter in the city said the plane crashed between a hospital and the city's Ghoda Camp neighbourhood.
A medic described how the burning plane had smashed into a residential block that is home to medical students and young doctors.
"One half of the plane crashed into the residential building where doctors lived with their families," said Krishna, a doctor who gave only one name.
He saw "about 15-20 burnt bodies" in the wreckage and debris.
It was not clear whether the dead he had seen had been killed on board the plane, or had been in the building the aircraft ploughed into.
"The nose and front wheel landed on the canteen building where students were having lunch," he said, adding he and colleagues had "rescued some 15 students from the building and sent them to hospital".
"When we reached the spot there were several bodies lying around and firefighters were dousing the flames," resident Poonam Patni said.
"Many of the bodies were burned", she added.
Another resident, who declined to be named, said: "We saw people from the building jumping from the second and third floor to save themselves. The plane was in flames.
"We helped people get out of the building and sent the injured to the hospital."
Outside Ahmedabad airport, a woman wailing inconsolably in grief said that five of her relatives had been aboard the plane. In a post on social media, former UK prime minister Rishi Sunak, who was recently in Ahmedabad to watch the final of the Indian Premier League, said, “Akshata and I are deeply shocked and distressed by the news of the Air India tragedy.
“There is a unique bond between our two nations and our thoughts and prayers go out to the British and Indian families who have lost loved ones today.”
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Keir Starmer. (Photo by JORDAN PETTITT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer on Thursday (12) expressed his anguish following a plane crash involving a London-bound Air India flight with 53 British nationals among 242 on board, shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad airport.
"The scenes emerging of a London-bound plane carrying many British nationals crashing in the Indian city of Ahmedabad are devastating,” Starmer said in a statement.
"I am being kept updated as the situation develops, and my thoughts are with the passengers and their families at this deeply distressing time," he said.
Foreign secretary David Lammy took to social media to express his support to those affected."Deeply saddened by news of a devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad, India. My thoughts are with all those affected.
The UK is working with local authorities in India to urgently establish the facts and provide support,” he said.
People gather near a damaged building and trees as firefighters work at the site where an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said it was working with local authorities in India to urgently establish the facts and provide support to those involved.
It issued a contact number for consular assistance.“We are aware of a plane crash in Ahmedabad.
The UK is working with local authorities in India to urgently establish the facts and provide support to those involved,” the FCDO’s travel advisory notes.
“British nationals who require consular assistance or have concerns about friends or family should call 020 7008 5000,” it adds.
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Gareth Thomas, MP for Harrow West, said, “I am deeply concerned by the tragic crash of Air India Flight AI171. Harrow is home to a large British-Gujarati community, many of whom have close family ties to Gujarat, and this devastating news will be felt particularly strongly here.
"My thoughts are with all those who have been injured or lost loved ones and I stand ready to support any Harrow residents who are concerned about the wellbeing of their family or friends affected by this tragedy.”
The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, carrying 242 people, was due to land at London Gatwick Airport at 1825 local time. The flight AI171 crashed shortly after takeoff near the Ahmedabad Airport on Thursday.