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commissioning COVID-19 Defend the NHS DiU and Unite Government Policy Masks PPE Privatisation Staying safe Testing Transmission Unite Leader statements Workplace COVID Zero COVID and Government Strategy

Speech by Dr Jackie Applebee, Chair of Doctors in Unite to the BMA Annual Representative Meeting, 15 September 2020

Dr Applebee proposed the motion by TOWER HAMLETS DIVISION of the BMA: That this meeting, in response to COVID 19, demands that government: i) ensure that workers are not under pressure to attend work either for financial or workforce reasons while they are unwell or self-isolating and at risk of inadvertently passing on the disease; […]

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COVID-19 Defend the NHS Government Guidelines Government Policy Hospitals and IPC Masks PPE Privatisation Schools Social Care Testing Transmission TTIS Zero COVID and Government Strategy

COVID-19 update 7 September 2020 – still stumbling along

A review of where the UK is in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic 1. Policy failure Richard Horton, editor of the prestigious medical journal ‘The Lancet’, described the management of COVID-19 as the “greatest science policy failure for a generation” in his book on the pandemic. Currently the numbers of newly diagnosed patients are […]

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COVID-19 Government Guidelines Masks PPE Staying safe Testing Transmission TTIS

Peers Inquiry into Public Service Lessons from Coronavirus: Full Report

Below is the Doctors in Unite repose to the Peers Inquiry which has asked for an open consultation from the public and professionals in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. We welcome the opportunity to feed into the Peers Inquiry into Public Service Lessons from Coronavirus. We are Doctors in Unite, the doctor’s branch of […]

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COVID-19 Defend the NHS Hospitals and IPC KONP and other campaigns Masks PPE Privatisation Staying safe Testing Transmission TTIS

Private providers must serve the public interest

In the middle of March 2020, it was clear that the NHS would not have the capacity to deal with the increased demands of the Covid-19 epidemic. This lack of spare capacity is clear evidence of continuing government failure to invest in the NHS to provide the required flexibility to meet unplanned needs.  As a necessary but panic measure to deal […]

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COVID-19 Masks PPE Staying safe Testing Transmission TTIS Workplace COVID

Financial Security must be maintained during contact tracing

Doctors in Unite believe that comprehensive, publicly coordinated and community based, ‘test, trace, isolate and support’ procedures are vital for control of the Covid 19 pandemic as lockdown is eased. As a means to eliminating Covid-19 from our communities, people must be supported to isolate once they are identified as potentially infectious. To this end […]

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COVID-19 Hospitals and IPC Masks PPE

International Workers’ Memorial Day

IWMD this year is unique in falling in the middle of the UK lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lack of appropriate PPE has thrown millions of public facing workers into harms way as they do not have the right tools to protect themselves from infection. In this environment it is vital that IWMD is […]

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COVID-19 Hospitals and IPC Masks PPE Staying safe Testing Transmission TTIS

Statement on key worker testing and contact tracing

Since the start of the lockdown we have called for contact tracing and widespread testing as the only means to establish the true prevalence of COVID-19. This is what the World Health Organisation urged all countries to do from the very beginning.  We welcome Matt Hancock’s announcement of testing for symptomatic key workers and their […]

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COVID-19 Masks Podcasts PPE

Episode 1: PPE

Dr Jackie Applebee joins the podcast today to discuss personal protective equipment.

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COVID-19 Hospitals and IPC Masks PPE Staying safe Transmission

COVID-19: the lack of safe PPE will be this government’s legacy

As the number of cases of COVID-19 in the UK continues to rise it has become increasingly clear that there is a dire shortage of appropriate PPE for health and social care workers. There have been repeated assurances from the government that there is plenty of appropriate PPE. However it is widely reported from the […]

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COVID-19 Government Guidelines Hospitals and IPC Masks PPE Staying safe Testing TTIS

Demands in response to COVID-19

The challenge of coronavirus requires a radical response. We will overcome this virus, but current legislation falls short – much more must be done. We demand: Full PPE This must include FFP3 masks, visors/protective spectacles, fluid resistant gowns with sleeves and gloves for all health and social care workers dealing with patients and service users […]