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The British prime minister has said he owes his life to National Health Service personnel treating him for Covid-19, as his government faced new criticism of supplying protective equipment for front-line workers.
Boris Johnson’s first public statement since leaving intensive care at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London followed a daily briefing in which Home Secretary Priti Patel said she regretted whether people felt that there had been “failures” in protection. Health workers.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) put more pressure on ministers by urging its members to refuse to treat patients as a “last resort” if appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) could not be provided.
The advice came as the UK death toll approached 10,000 and the NHS trusts confirmed the death of more health workers after Health Secretary Matt Hancock paid tribute to the 19 NHS employees. who died after hiring Covid-19.
Thanking the NHS doctors for helping him, Johnson said, “I can’t thank you enough. I owe you my life.”
Patel seemed to suggest that the prime minister’s return to work was not imminent and said he needed “time and space to rest, recover and recover.”
Among the last health workers to die during the outbreak was Sara Trollope, a midwife from mental health services for older adults in Hillingdon, west London, who died after testing positive for the virus.
Julie Omar, 52, a trauma and orthopedic nurse at Alexandra Redditch Hospital in Worcestershire, also died while isolated at home with symptoms of the virus.
In an attempt to prevent more deaths on the front line, the RCN released a new guideline, seen by the AP news agency, which says that if you can’t supply enough PPE and treatment can’t be delayed or carried out in another format, nurses must refuse to work.
A spokesperson told PA: “For the nursing staff, this will go against every instinct. But their safety should not be compromised.”
The RCN said it would provide legal assistance to those making what it recognized as an “enormously difficult decision” and warned them that they could face criminal prosecution for corporate murder in “very rare” cases for staying away.
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The representative body issued a seven-point safety plan for nurses to follow, with step six saying: “Ultimately, if you have exhausted all other measures to reduce risk and have not been given the proper PPE for In accordance with the UK Infection Prevention and Control Guide, you have the right to refuse to work.
“This will be a last resort and the RCN recognizes how difficult it would be for nursing staff.”
The RCN recommends that those choosing to withdraw medical care maintain written justifications for their decisions and direct nurses to prepare for attempts to fire them, claims of clinical negligence and possibly face criticism in investigations or even criminal charges.
Yesterday, the UK Department of Health said a total of 9,875 people had died in a UK hospital after testing positive for the coronavirus at 5 p.m. Friday, a 917 increase from the same point on Thursday.
There was renewed political pressure on the government after Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer demanded “urgent talks” with Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg to ensure that ministers could be probed in parliament for their handling of the crisis in Covid-19.
He said there should be a way for parliamentarians to ask ministers questions after the Easter recess, which will end on April 21, even if it’s via webcam.
Sir Keir, in a letter to Mr. Rees-Mogg, said that “answers are needed” on issues such as the PPE and the exit strategy from the blockade currently imposed on the United Kingdom.
So far, ministers have ruled out giving a date on which restrictions on movement and social contact will be lifted, with Hancock and Patel emphasizing the need for people to stay home even during the good weather on Easter weekend.
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