Yahoo News Son of NHS doctor Abdul Mabud Chowdhury 'proud' of dad for raising PPE concerns before he died
The son of a doctor who died after contracting coronavirus has said he is proud of his father for warning the Government about shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS workers.
Consultant urologist Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, died on Wednesday night, more than two weeks after being taken to hospital on March 23.
Just five days before being admitted, the father-of-two wrote a Facebook post to Boris Johnson urging the prime minister to address shortages of PPE for health care workers.
Speaking on Friday, his son Intisar Chowdhury said his father was in "such pain" in hospital when he wrote the Facebook post.
“He wrote that post while he was in that state, just because of how much he cared about his co-workers and the courage my dad had to point out something wrong that the Government was doing, which I’m so proud to say that he was able to do," Mr Chowdhury told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
“Even in his state, he did that, and I’m glad that even though I only found out about it yesterday, I’m not surprised, I genuinely am not surprised, because he is a man of the people.”
Dr Chowdhury’s son also cautioned that his father was “unfortunately not going to be the last NHS frontline worker to die” during the outbreak.
“I’m glad it is getting the attention now that it needs to protect NHS workers on the front line because it pains me to say that my father is not the first and he is unfortunately not going to be the last NHS frontline worker to die," he said.
“If there is anything we can do to minimise that from happening as much as possible, that’s all we need to do.”
More than a dozen medics have died in the UK after contracting coronavirus while working in hospitals.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the British Medical Association (BMA), said it was “so tragic” that Dr Chowdhury had died after issuing a warning about a lack of PPE.
“This is really tragic when you consider that many of these doctors, almost all of them, have come from overseas, they have given their lives to the NHS, to caring for patients and saving lives themselves,” he told BBC Breakfaston Friday.
“It is so tragic that this particular doctor warned about the risk of becoming infected through lack of protection and our hearts go out to him and all the other healthcare workers who are providing frontline care, over the past few weeks and over this coming Easter weekend and beyond.”
The BMA last month sounded the alarm over gaps in PPE supply for frontline health workers, saying many hospitals and GP practices were facing "life-threatening shortages”.
A report published earlier this week by The Guardian alleged medics were being being “bullied and shamed” into treating patients with Covid-19 despite not having the masks, gowns and eyewear they need to protect themselves from the virus.
Others are being told to hold their breath to avoid getting infected because of PPE shortages, the Guardian report said.
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