At the start of the pandemic it was thought that spread of coronavirus was through large droplets travelling over a relatively short distance or by fomites contaminating hands and mucous membranes. The danger of aerosol spread was recognised, but thought to be limited to ‘aerosol generating procedures’ (AGP) such as intubation. For this reason, high […]
Category: Transmission
Evidence shows that those of BAME origin are amongst those at highest risk of infection and death from COVID 19. People of BAME origin often work in low paid employment in jobs where it is not possible to work at home such as cleaners, carers and bus drivers. These are also jobs which put workers in close, protracted […]
Doctors in Unite sent the letter below to Professor Allyson Pollock and colleagues, in support of their letter to Liverpool MPs questioning the rationale for mass testing of the people of Liverpool. A link to their letter, and a BMJ blogpost by Dr Angela Raffle, Consultant in Public Health appears below our letter. 9th November […]
The media recently highlighted the fact that NHS England has announced: “The NHS is set to radically overhaul the way MRI, CT and other diagnostic services are delivered for patients . . . . Community diagnostic hubs or ‘one stop shops’ should be created across the country, away from hospitals, so that patients can receive […]
We sent the following message today, 20 September 2020, to Independent SAGE: “Doctors in Unite fully endorse Independent SAGE’s emergency ten point plan to avoid a national lockdown. [The plan can be found here: https://www.independentsage.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Emergency-Plan-PUBLISHED.pdf ] Experience from other countries such as Germany, South Korea and Japan has shown that if the correct measures are […]
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; […]
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 […]
Workers and local communities are not to blame; responsibility lies with employers, regulatory agencies and government Summary It seems nearly every day there is another outbreak of Covid-19 in Britain’s factories, in the food processing industry, in the garment industry and elsewhere. It is increasingly clear that working conditions in the factories are largely responsible […]
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 […]
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 […]
Doctors in Unite 