Shropshire Star

Shrewsbury GP calls for protective equipment

A Shrewsbury doctor has pleaded for proper protective equipment for the UK's NHS staff.

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Dr Adam Booth

Dr Adam Booth, a GP in Baschurch, says the safety equipment, including masks, should have been brought in in advance.

Speaking on BBC's Question Time he asked why was there a hold-up in getting the equipment to hospitals, doctors' surgeries and to all NHS staff.

The doctor who had to send his question in after the live show planned for the town had to be cancelled, also revealed that he had been self isolating for the past week and a half.

"I haven't been able to work from home because I can not get remote access," he said.

"People are having to buy their our Personal Protection Equipment from DIY stores - this should have been dealt with in advance."

One of the show's panel members, Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of the medical journal The Lancet, said the lack of PPE was a "national scandal".

"We knew this was coming, we knew it was happening in China 11 weeks ago," he said.

"We are putting our health workers in the front line without the armour they need to defend themselves, that is nothing short of a national scandal."

Robert Jenrick MP, secretary of state for Housing, Communities and Local Government, said the government was ramping up production as fast as it could.

Also on the programme was Bev Smith who said she had recently lost her job in the travel industry after the problems of flooding in Shrewsbury were followed by Covid-19.

"Had the company kept me on I would have been able to get 80 per cent of my wages," she said.

"I'm now on universal credit and very anxious that I won't be able to pay my bills."

Mr Jenrick said the Government had put things in place to ensure people wouldn't lose their homes but Labour MP, Emily Thornberry said it wasn't enough."

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