Coronavirus: At-risk NHS workers told to put their health first as volunteer doctor dies
The IndependentSign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Healthcare professionals have been told to consider not treating patients with the Covid-19 coronavirus if they themselves would be put at risk, part of new ethical guidance that calls on doctors to prioritise some ailments over the pandemic. Among the recommendations, physicians are told “it is ethical for those doctors who would be harmed by contracting the virus to refrain from treating patients with” a case, or a suspected case, of Covid-19. Dr Alexis Paton, who chairs the RCP’s Committee on Ethical Issues in Medicine that worked towards the guidance, told The Independent: “We know there are staff who are concerned about their own health or maybe they care for someone who would be classed as what we’re calling vulnerable, and they will be asking themselves questions and this gives them some guidance on that. “We don’t want to lose sight of the fact that we are in a pandemic — but all of the workforce are still caring for all of the patients they would normally be caring for, so this document is about laying out how we continue to care for our existing patients, how we will care for new patients, Covid-19 or otherwise.” Noting the body was responding to government guidance on high-risk individuals in general, Dr Paton said: “It’s not just that we might be having the return of these professionals but we know that there are working doctors and nurses who are in their seventies, or that do have these conditions, where normally that’s not an issue.” Dr Alfa Saadu, 68, died on Tuesday, having stepped down as medical director of the Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust in 2016 after nearly four decades in healthcare.