Thread by @EveryDoctorUK

Our members are at the heart of everything we do. We brought these cases against the government to seek justice for NHS workers & patients who were unprotected. So, in the midst of today’s legal proceedings, read, in her own words, the story of one of our GP members.

[1] The pandemic hit us in full force. Despite warnings from China & Italy, the government failed to prepare, resulting in a lack of Personal Protective Equipment, leaving us defenceless, vulnerable and fully exposed to the virus.

[2] As GPs and healthcare professionals, we care about people, and we often go above and beyond to help our patients, but should this be at the risk of our own lives and those of our loved ones?

[3] Before the first lockdown, we were only given 2 surgical facemasks per person to use when seeing patients with respiratory symptoms.

[4] The first set of goggles, visors, scrubs & masks we received were donated from non-healthcare-related services - from builders 👷‍♀️ seamstresses 🧵 and fire services 🚒 The government failed to procure sufficient PPE & failed to realise the urgency of the situation.

[5] We were given flimsy aprons with no neck, arms, back or below knee coverage (which we still use to this day). We had to use the same goggles and visors day after day. We were told to clean them in-between patients but received very little training for this.

[6] Many colleagues bought their own PPE. And we avoided touching things in our homes (including the front door) to avoid harming our loved ones.

[7] As the year wore on, the government stuck with their approach to save face. Despite the lockdowns, deaths and infection rates - which all happened while wearing their recommended PPE. Many of my colleagues contracted COVID-19 despite following government advice.

[8] As a GP, one of our duties is visiting housebound patients. Patients in care homes became especially vulnerable victims to the virus. Home visits can be a high-risk venture at the best of times, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, they were even higher, due to insufficient PPE.

[9] There was no accounting for the use of our own cars, which we drive to the surgery 🏥 to home visits 🏘️ to carry PPE 😷 to carry contaminated medical equipment 🚫 and then drive home to our families👩‍👧‍👦 There were and still are, no seat coverings being provided.

[10] One friend working in hospital was told to remove her facemask as she was ‘frightening the public’. An incredibly inappropriate comment given the circumstances to come.

[11] The noticeable increase in deaths of ethnic minority (BAME) people from COVID-19 was also obvious. But despite raising concerns, very little change was seen or acknowledged and many ethnic minority people were unfairly treated for raising concerns.

[12] The failure to provide safe & adequate PPE has made me wonder what the value of a life really is.
And what it means to sacrifice our lives to help our patients in the face of a government that clearly does not value us.

We have heard hundreds of stories like this over the last year. It’s why we launched our #ProtectNHSworkers campaign 💙 It’s why we’re in court this week 👩‍⚖️ And it’s why we’re asking #WhatsThePlanMatt? so this never happens again.
actionnetwork.org/petitions/what…