Thousands have been infected with the coronavirus in the United Kingdom, and 177 people have died. Despite the enormous burden and responsibility, British doctors feel unsupported by the government. They complain of a lack of masks and the inability to be tested. The Russian service of the BBC has collected her monologues.
Sandeesh Gulhane, General Practitioner, Glasgow. Today is my first day off for four weeks. I work as a general practitioner in Glasgow. My wife is also a doctor. She is pregnant and due on April 1st. She has just started her maternity leave. This is all very challenging – we do not know how the coronavirus affects the fetus and pregnant women. We do not know because it is a new disease.
I was very lucky because my hospital bought masks before it all started. However, they sent us masks with an expiration date of 2016. They covered the year with a new date – until 2021. We don’t know who did this, but we’re trying to find out. We heard that they are some kind of masks and that everything will be fine. But where is the proof? Someone else told us that the masks were stored correctly in the warehouse. How do I know how they’ve been stored all these years? The manufacturer’s website says that the expiration date is three years, after which their effectiveness decreases. It’s not the worst thing in the world, but at least we have some masks. In other hospitals, doctors don’t even have them and they work with patients diagnosed with coronavirus. Doctors are afraid. We are not being tested for coronavirus and adequate measures are not being taken to protect us. I already have a ritual. At work, I put on special medical clothes, even though they are not required for therapists – we work in normal clothes. When I come home, I ask my wife and son to stay away. In the end, only a dog greets me from work, but I still need someone to hug. I have limited contact with my loved ones, started sleeping separately, and use a different bathroom. With my family, we only eat together. I try to do everything I can to protect my wife, but I won’t stop working – people will die without me.
We explain quickly, simply, and clearly what happened, why it matters, and what happens next. The Episodes The end of the story. Advertising podcasts. Nishant Joshi, emergency room physician, London. I work in the Emergency Department at Luton and Dunstable Hospital. I have seen patients with suspected coronavirus infection. What concerns us most is that a large number of patients with no symptoms are coming in with seemingly innocent problems like sprains or headaches, and they are spreading the infection to those on the front lines of health care. And then the medical staff become carriers of the coronavirus infection, and we spread the infection to other patients. Obviously, this is happening all over the country – we could reduce the risk by making it mandatory for all patients to wear surgical masks, but we’ve been told there just aren’t enough to go around. It is absolutely unacceptable that the government has brought the entire health care system into such a crisis. Medical professionals across the country are on edge: doctors and nurses are terrified that we will all become infected and unknowingly spread the infection to our patients and loved ones. We are in an unimaginable situation – and we are shocked by the government’s terrible indifference to the safety of health workers themselves. My hospital is very fortunate to have excellent management who respond appropriately to our concerns, but every hospital is bound by both local and national regulations – there’s just no way to make a non-standard decision when we really need to. Boris Johnson needs to answer this question: why don’t we test health workers? We do not have enough protective suits, and unfortunately the authorities avoid this issue at their press conferences. When I gently asked a few weeks ago how we would respond to Covid-19, it never occurred to me to ask if we would have enough surgical masks! Sadly, this may turn out to be the biggest scandal in the history of British healthcare. Our entire system has been undermined and sabotaged for years – to the point where sometimes we doctors are just working out of goodwill. Now we find ourselves in a war-like situation where we have such meager, insignificant resources that it is simply dangerous. We need the authorities to be held accountable for this negligence. But there is another question: if we don’t have enough masks now, what will happen to the supply of our essential medicines in a few months? What I fear most is that the sick will suffer.
Michael Nushi, nurse, London. Our hospital primarily provides all necessary equipment to those who work directly with patients, with priority given to those who work in operating rooms and anesthesiologists. I know there were concerns about the disappearance of some funds and equipment from storage rooms, but this was quickly resolved by increasing security. My colleagues and I have not yet received individually selected masks because we are not first on the priority list.
Regarding the fact that health care workers are not being tested. This morning our hospital announced that all those who work with patients will be tested for coronavirus infection, so that’s reassuring. Yes, I think the reaction of our authorities was too slow and not strict enough. I don’t understand why they started telling people not to go anywhere, but didn’t give the order to close down pubs and restaurants – which means that these establishments will suffer losses and eventually close down without the possibility of claiming compensation from their insurers. Compared to other countries, we have a more restrained approach, and I worry that more people will die as a result than might have been the case.
Yaroslav Tserman, a physician and anesthesiologist in the intensive care unit in Manchester: We decided to convert our regular ICU into a coronavirus unit. None of us have seen ICUs converted for coronavirus or any other epidemic. I work in an old Victorian building with many empty rooms, one of which our nurses prepared for an emergency situation, and they did it on a Sunday. I see patients with Covid-19 every day. Some of them have been referred to us. The coronavirus destroys the lungs, but it does not affect other organs very much. It is surprising how well Covid-19 patients look on admission and how rapidly their condition can deteriorate within a few hours.
Marina Diel, Physician-Therapist, London. I am a family doctor and I usually see everyone who lives in this area. We see everyone – those who have a cough or something else, but since there are no tests done during the initial examination, we cannot say what virus the patient has. However, since last weekend, we have been doing diagnostic sorting of patients over the phone, meaning that we are calling all those who are already scheduled for an appointment and trying to resolve their problems over the phone. And we are only inviting patients for a face-to-face visit if it is absolutely necessary and safe, that is, if they have no symptoms of coronavirus. Most people understand the situation and accept the new rules. Although I did have one patient who lied about the reason for his visit and then came to the front desk demanding to be tested for coronavirus. Patients are certainly concerned about disruptions in the supply of medicines and want to get more than they need. Today I spoke with a cancer patient whose caregiver was showing symptoms of coronavirus and she was very concerned about who would take care of her.
A correspondent of the Russian service of the BBC asked for a comment on the shortage of equipment in the National Health Service of Great Britain. The department replied that “as expected, the staff is using a large amount of equipment to fight the virus as it spreads, but we will provide hospitals with sufficient supplies around the clock so that they can sustain themselves throughout the next week”. A correspondent of the Russian service of the BBC tried to contact the press service of the British Department of Health and Social Care, but by the time the article was published there was no response. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already announced that the UK will increase the number of tests carried out from 10,000 to 25,000 per day and will prioritize testing of NHS staff.