Health & Wellbeing

With nearly three quarters of the coronavirus deaths by staff employed in the NHS and social care sectors coming from a BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) background, public data has also revealed that 19% of patients to die in England are from an ethnic or mixed-heritage background.

Dr Habib Naqvior, the NHS Director for Workforce Race & Equality, said: “With the fact that a high percentage of staff dying from this pandemic coming from a Black and Ethnic background is proving very worrying for us.

“This is proving to be very challenging for us but we very much need to rise to the challenge.

“What we need to do is look at what we can do by way of putting the right things in place right now to support our staff”.

Shadow Equalities Secretary, Marsha de Cordova, has called for the government to “urgently investigate why people from a BAME background are far more vulnerable to the virus”.

This follows the chair of the BMA (British Medical Association), Dr Chaand Nagpaul CBE, saying the first ten doctors named as having died from Covid-19 were all from BAME communities.

He called it “hugely disturbing and extremely worrying”.

The Chief Medical Officer in England, Chris Whitty, said that it is critical that we find out which ethnic groups are most at risk.

“It remains unclear why some ethnic groups appear to be more vulnerable”, he said.

“I have had discussions with leading scientists on this matter by way of teasing this apart”.

A minute’s silence was observed across the UK to remember key workers whose deaths were linked to the coronavirus pandemic.

Taking place outside hospitals, care homes and health centres, it was held to coincide with International Workers Memorial Day.

Unison, the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Nurces launched the campaign so that the nation could take a moment to honour frontline staff who have died during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Between them, the organisations represent over a million NHS and public service workers including porters, refuse workers and care staff.

Dame Donna Kinnair, the chief executive and general secretary of the Royal College of Nurses, said: “I was heartened to hear how many people took part in the minute’s silence to honour the memory of staff that has tragically died during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We thought that it was important to pay a public tribute to all of those who have lost their lives to the pandemic.

“I am immensely proud that so many people took the time to pay their tribute”.

She then issued a call out for protection of workers, saying that the death toll must not be allowed to rise further.

NHS doctors have been warned to look out for a rare but dangerous reaction in children that may be linked to Covid-19 infection.

An urgent alert sent out to GPs said that intensive care departments in London and other parts of the United Kingdom have been treating severely ill children with unusual symptoms which include “multi-system inflammation” with flu-like symptoms.

Some, but not all, tested positive for coronavirus.

It is unclear how many children have been diagnosed with the new syndrome, although the number is expected to be low.

The alert, which was issued by NHS England, said that there was a growing concern that a coronavirus-related inflammatory syndrome is immerging in children in the UK or that there may be another, as yet unidentified, infection linked to these cases.

Dr Nazima Pathen, a consultant in Paediatric Intensive Care, in Cambridge, said that colleagues in Spain and Italy had been reporting similar cases: “Some of the children have presented with a septic shock type illness and rashes – the kind of presentation we would expect to see in toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease (which affects blood vessels and the heart).

“Overall, children seem to be more resilient to serious lung infection following exposure to coronavirus, and the numbers admitted into Intensive Care Units are relatively low.

NHS England said that it knew of fewer than 20 such cases in the country where an association has been noted by clinicians.

A spokesperson said that investigations will continue, but no link has yet been established.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) said parents should be reassured by this, but if they are concerned about their children’s health for any reason, they should seek help from a health professional.

An Indian takeaway owner is giving away hundreds of meals to hospital. staff in memory of his baby son.

Adam Hussain, from Warwick, was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension when he was only two weeks old and died from influenza in 20217, aged 11 months.

Baabzi Miah said that he had “not forgotten the care” that his family had received at “our most challenging time”.

He is also raising money for an NHS charity and is also giving away meals to a homeless organisation.

Mr Miah is now delivering 200 meals a week to the nearby Warwick Hospital, as well as delivering a similar number to Helping Hands in Leamington Spa, which supports homeless and vulnerable people.

He said: “Adam was initially cared for at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham, before being referred for treatment at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital”.

He appeared to be in recovery, but his condition declined dramatically before, as Mr Miah said; “he passed away after a very brave battle”.

Baabzi added: “You never when you, a loved one, or a friend will need the care, medical attention and the sacrifice of a front-line worker.

He said that he hopes that the gesture would make Adam proud.

Baabzi Takeawy is also delivering to paying customers with the aim of raising £10,000 for the NHS Covid-19 Urgent Appeal through an online crowdfunding page.

Premier League club, Aston Villa, have allowed their ground to provide maternity care support during the Covid-19 pandemic.

After it was said that expecting parents were feeling anxious about going into hospitals, midwives from the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospital Trust will be based in the North Stand, at the club’s Villa Park stadium, along with support workers.

The Trust said that “the ground was un a perfect position for clinics”.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa’s first-team players, coaching staff and senior management team will defer 25% of their wages for up to four months to help the club ease the financial impact caused by the pandemic, while non-playing staff will be retained and paid, in full, during the lockdown.

The Premier League club say that they will not make use of the government’s furlough scheme.

Chief Executive, Christian Purslow, said: “Our players and staff feel great solidarity with the many clubs in the football pyramid who have financial problems”.

The club’s Head of Foundation and Community Partnerships, Guy Rippon, said: “The club is delighted to be able to help our local NHS hospitals”.

Across the region, fellow West Midlands club, West Bromwich Albion, is reported to be using their Hawthorns stadium for antenatal and postnatal care.

With it only recently being opened by the Duke of Cambridge Prince William, the Birmingham Nightingale Hospital is said to “not being used at all” since.

Having been set up inside the National Exhibition Centre on the outskirts of the city, the site was set up to take up to 5,000 coronavirus patients at a time from 23 hospitals in the Midlands.

Dr David Rosser, the chief executive of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust said that it was “a good thing that the hospital had not received any patients.

“It shows that the NHS has absorbed the extra pressure”.

The temporary site, near Birmingham International Airport, has 70,000 square feet of floor space to provide extra capacity whilst easing the pressure on services dealing with the coronavirus pandemic

Home tests for coronavirus should be available to NHS staff throughout the UK “very soon”, according to the government’s testing co-ordinate.

Professor John Newton acknowledged that health and care workers have struggled to access testing sites. The government said that a “lack of demand”, rather than capacity was the deciding factor behind the slow growth in testing numbers.

But the British Medical Association (BMA), the Royal College of Nurses (RCN) ans UNISON have challenged this.

On the positive side of the world crisis is the story of the tiny premature baby who fought off coronavirus.

Mother of the baby, Tracy Maguire, remembered the moment when she saw doctors insert a swab into her three-week-old baby’s nose to test for Covid-19.

The new mother recalled the harrowing moment, saying: “It was one of the worsed things that I have ever seen.

“It was the first time I had seen my baby cry tears”.

She continued: “I held her and then I was crying. We were just trying to get each other through this trying, emotional situation”.

Born premature at just 2id 5oz (1.5kg), baby Peylon was diagnosed with coronavirus at just three weeks old.

Sir Simon McDonald, a Foreign Office civil servant, said that he was wrong to claim that the UK took a 2political decision” not to join an EU scheme to source medical equipment after telling MPs that ministers were briefed on “what was on offer” but said “no”.

He, however, retracted his comment saying he had “wrongly told MPs” that ministers had been briefed on the scheme.

McDonald later said that the UK did not receive an invitation to join the scheme because of, it was said, “communication problems”.

Warwickshire County Cricket Club has donated its Edgbaston Stadium to the Department of Health and Social Care to create a drive-through COVID-19 testing station, which is used to regularly test NHS staff who are working in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands region.

Beginning operations, the NHS staff testing centre is positioned within Edgbaston’s main on-site car park with NHS staff driving in through the Edgbaston Road entrance, to be tested while remaining in their vehicle and exit the grounds onto Pershore Road.

Neil Snowball, Chief Executive of Warwickshire CCC, said: “With our county cricket programme and conference & events business closed until 29 May, our staff were exploring various options which enable the club to keep supporting our local community during these difficult times, whether that be through making calls to our elderly members and ex-players, volunteering and by offering Edgbaston Stadium for use in the wider civil contingency effort.

“Whilst it is a small part to play in the grand scheme of things, we are pleased that our stadium can be utilised to support the fantastic efforts being made by all of our NHS staff in response to the coronavirus crisis.

“We are also very grateful for the support that we have received in delivering this project from Patrizia and Homes England, our development partners”

The NHS staff COVID-19 testing station will remain at Edgbaston Stadium until further notice to support the measures that have been implemented by the Government to counter the virus.

Warwickshire CCC has also outlined plans to show thanks to the NHS by providing free entry to its staff at a Birmingham Bears fixture later this summer.

Details of this will be revealed as further information about the 2020 season and schedule are released.

After weeks of pressure, a review into why people from ethnic minorities are “disturbingly” and by coronavirus has been launched by the Government. 

Downing Street confirmed that the NHS and Public Health England will lead the review of evidence concerning the impact on people Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.

The concerns come despite people from a BAME background only accounting for 13pc of the population in England and Wales, 44pc of NHS doctors and 24pc of nurses are from a BAME background.

Councillor Linda Smith, the Deputy Leader of Oxford City Council, was one who expressed concern by contacting the Health Secretary Matt Hancock to highlight the "disproportionate" impact on BAME communities.

This came following the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC) finding that 34% of critically ill coronavirus patients in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were from Black or minority ethnic backgrounds.

Ms Smith wrote: ‘We would like some reassurance about what urgent monitoring is being conducted into why this is happening [and] what is being done to ensure the protection of all citizens but particularly any who are especially vulnerable, for instance through their frontline work with patients infected with Covid-19’.

She said that the "disproportionate ratio" of BAME communities being affected by Covid-19 was "particularly apparent amongst NHS staff and care-givers who have lost their lives".

Ms Smith also said residents had raised concerns that supplies of PPE "may not be sufficient" to "those working in social care, primary care, as well as non-clinical and outsourced staff in hospitals".

Leaked emails have revealed that a number of protective gowns and masks could be reused by health workers under "last resort" Public Health England (PHE) plans to preserve stocks.

The British Medical Association said that it "underlines the urgency" of protective equipment shortages but PHE said no decisions had been made.

Meet Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the man who is currently taking the lead as Director General at WHO (World Health Organization).

Dr Tedros is an Ethiopian health scholar and microbiologist with first-hand experience in research, operations, and leadership in emergency responses to epidemics.

He became Director General of WHO in July 2017, and is the first Black person to ever serve in this role. He has formally served as both the Minister of Health and Minister of Foreign Affairs in Ethiopia.

Immediately after taking office at WHO, Dr Tedros outlined five key priorities for the agency: universal health coverage; health emergencies; women’s, children’s and adolescents’ health; health impacts of climate and environmental change; and a transformed WHO.

When the coronavirus global pandemic began in December 2019, Dr Tedros and his team were the ones who named the virus COVID-19 and immediately began helping build countries' capacity to prepare and respond. He has been credited with providing accurate information and fight the infodemic, training and mobilizing health workers, and accelerating research and development.

Dr. Tedros has also been credited with bringing together scientists, public health decision-makers, medical journalists, technology and social media platforms and civil society to help share reliable information, while reducing misinformation, rumours and myths about COVID-19.

99-year-old army veteran, Tom Moore raised in excess of a staggering £15million (and rising) to help the UK’s NHS in its fight against coronavirus.

Having smashed his original target goal of £1,000, World War II soldier, Tom Moore, aimed to complete 100 laps of his garden, at his home in Bedfordshire, by walking with the aid of his frame after he said that will not stop well after reaching his original aim.

NHS Charities Together, which stood to benefit from the funds, said it “was truly inspired and humbled”.

Captain Tom – as he likes to be known as – was determined to walk the 100 laps of the 25-metre loop before he reached his 100th birthday which is due nearer the end of the month.

He set the challenge to himself as a way of thanking the ‘magnificent’ National Health Service staff who helped him to recover for his cancer treatment and a broken hip.

But, such was the response to his efforts, more than 100,000 people responded by sponsoring him via his Justgive page.

After exceeding the magic ’13 (million)’, Captain Tom said: “When you think of who it is all for – all those brave and super doctors and nurses we have got – I think they deserve every penny and I hope we get some more for them”.

Finishing his 100-lap marathon challenge in fine fettle, and surpassing £13m, Captain Tom said: “We have had problems before and we have overcome them – We shall all overcome the same thing again”.

Money is still rolling in, from all around the world, in support for the lovable, incredibly strong and determined Captain Tom Moore – and the UK’s equally-incredible National Health Service and other key workers who work on the frontline during this coronavirus pandemic.

Could we soon be doffing our collective caps to Captain Sir Tom Moor any time soon?

With it having the largest postal service in the world, as India is now under total lockdown, it is using its huge, record-breaking operation to help deliver lifesaving medicines aimed at tackling the coronavirus pandemic that is sweeping the country.

The service’s red postal vans, which makes thousands of daily journeys covering all of the country’s post offices based in some 600,000 or so villages, will be transporting medical equipment and drugs where they are most needed at a time when transport there is at a stand-still.

Since the country’s total lockdown and many industries, including hospitals, medical centres, pharmaceutical companies, laboratories and people on the whole left in the lurch, the postal service came to the fore in India’s ‘hour of need’.

Ashok Kumar Madan, executive director of the IDMA (Indian Drug Manufacturer’s Association), explained the problem that was faced: “We were facing a lot of difficulties.

“We usually rely on couriers to get our products out to customers, but, because of the lockdown, none of them were responding to us, probably because they didn’t have curfew passes, or delivery people to call on.

“Many of these products were essential medicines; such as for heart conditions and/or cancer.

With the postal service already in partnership with IDMA to prioritise medical deliveries in the state of Gujarat, he then got a call from Alok Ojha, the senior superintendent of the service in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Ojha was then offered the chance to repeat that service on a wider scale with Madan explaining: “We were looking for a solution and, with it being rendered an “essential service” by the government – which allows them to operate normally during the lockdown - the postal service have unhindered access to the whole country.

As word spread, more people began to call and ask for help.

Since the lockdown, far more companies and institutes have made similar requests, with the postal service used to deliver everything from batches of lifesaving drugs, N95 masks and ventilators, moving medicines and equipment between major states and cities – via the the red vans.

In the face of what is a global pandemic – the likes of which has never happened before in a peace-time UK – concerns are being shown for nor only the physical well-being of the nation’s National Health Service (NHS) staff, as with that of other key workers, who are working on the frontline during these trying times.

There are fears that they (NHS and key workers) are thought to be more susceptible than ever to develop anything from deep anxieties, extreme burnout and/or PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).

The British Psychological Society have said that psychological first aid should be provided to these essential frontline workers, as, they say; “the UK runs the risk of undergoing a further mental health crisis”.

Government ministers have said that in the face of any one of them feeling at-all stressed, any of the NHS staff, especially those in the face of this coronavirus crisis, can call a helpline to air their concerns.

However, MPs have said that it is not enough and the government should provide the staff with extra support for those who are feeling overwhelmed.

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As coronavirus is claiming a ridiculously large number of victims and there being a sharp rise in deaths, there’s no sign of it slowly down.

And, as a caveat, the British Medical Association (BMA) is showing great concerns over the increasing number of people from Black, Asia and other ethnic backgrounds who are said to be more vulnerable to coronavirus than any other of the diverse cultures in the United Kingdom.

With the first ten doctors in the UK who were registered as dying from the virus coming from a Black and Asian Minority Ethnic background, the BMA is calling for the government for an investigation into the alarming ratio.

The doctors are, ostensively, from the African, Asian and Middle Eastern Diasporas.

“This situation is extremely dangerous and worrying”, BMA Chair, Dr Chaand Nagpaul, said.

“To have the first 10 doctors being of Black, Asian, or another ethnic background, makes it difficult to see as being random”.

Figures also show that 3 out of 6 named nurses who have died are from a BAME background, as well as a hospital pharmacist and at least one healthcare assistant.

Research showed that out of some 2000 patients in intensive care units, 35% were non-white.

Underlining his point, Dr Chaand Nagpaul went on: “We know that in general, people from a Black, Asian and other ethnic background make up around a third of the people in intensive care.

“The percentage is disproportionate.

“We hear that the virus does not discriminate but there does appear to be a disproportionate severity in BAME people and doctors.

In feeling that it needs to be investigated, Dr Nagpaul said that health professionals from a non-white background were showing great concern about the deaths of their colleagues.

“This, I feel, has to be addressed by the government urgently”.

One of the points that could be looked at is the feeling that BAME medics often feel bullied and harassed at high level in comparison to their white counterparts.

“They are twice as unlikely to raise concerns because of fears of recriminations”, Nagpaul said.

“The deaths of BAME doctors is particularly upsetting as the vast majority who have come from overseas have given their lives to the NHS, in order to saves the lives of others.

The Department of Health and Social Care said it was working hard to protect all communities, and that translations of the Public Information leaflets, which is posted to every household in the UK, were also on its website.

People across the UK stood up as one again to applaud the efforts of the NHS and care workers in treating those affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

As last week, at 8.00 p.m., men, women and children came out of all kinds of buildings – homes and places of work – for what was the third ‘Clap-for-Carers’ show of appreciation - as certain buildings of significance were again lit up in blue - the colour of the National Health Service logo – again, at 8.00 to pay tribute to all care work staff who are seen as the most vulnerable as the battle against the outbreak shows no sign of abating just yet.

This more recent ‘Clap-for-Carers’ was more poignant to the government as it came during a time when the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson spent a third night in hospital having contracted the COVID-17 virus over the weekend.

He has since been moved from Intensive Care as his health was said to be improving during his time in St. Thomas’ Hospital, in central London.

The PM’s father, Stanley, said; “He ‘took one for the team’ and, now, we have to make sure that we play properly”.

The UK government has launched a campaign urging people to stay at home over the Easter Bank Holiday.

This last Clap-for-Care – coupled with the hospitalisation of Prime Minister Johnson – also brought into focus, by all care workers, the lack of funding in the sector.