, it's a great loss for the royal college and of course for the royal college and of course for his familyect describe him as the father of the current emergency department. a centralfigure in making the operation work. he was a natural leader. and he pulled people around him and got the very best out of them. that was really visible even when there's a junior doctor it when he engaged with people. i'm not surprised she achieved such success in derby. thank you very much for joining us. paying tribute to his friend and colleague. with shortages and delays to the arrival of personal protective equipment, many people are looking for ways to help nhs workers through the coronavirus pandemic. it's led to an army of more than 40,000 volunteers, from every corner of the uk, producing scrubs for workers on the frontline. hywel griffith reports. hi, i'm terri. hello, i'm vicky. i'm christina. from stitchers in somerset. i'm in edinburgh. from scarborough. cornwall. cutters in cumbria. i'm in south london. i'm in bristol. in belfast and brighton too, that whirring is the sound of tens of thousands

the royal college of nurses saying one in ten nurses are actually making their own facemasks.rhaps no surprise, the government is completely unwilling to talk about or think about publicly an exit strategy. indeed we now know that boris johnson's publicly an exit strategy. indeed we now know that borisjohnson's great greatest fear is for the virus re—emerging in the lockdown is released too early because that could mean an even more draconian lockdown which would have profoundly damaging consequences for businesses, never mind whether people would be prepared to put up with the second lockdown. tens of thousands of companies have already made applications to a government scheme designed to stop firms making workers redundant. the coronavirus job rentention scheme went live early this morning. businesses can now apply for grants to cover 80 per cent of the wages of staff who've been temporarily laid off. employers should receive the money within six days. as our economics correspondent andy verity reports, it's a huge understaking, not without teething troubles. this coffee sho

together because of his work schedule and his schedule with his training and schedule with the royal college of surgeons, so for him, after his family, the nhs was everything. and he meant everything to his nhs colleagues. an absolutely fabulous man, inspirational. inspirational on the shop floor and love the clinical challenge and had a massive intellect and encyclopedic knowledge and was an inspiration for many junior doctors many doctors who dedicated their career to the nhs have died coronavirus. like this

the royal college of surgeons says doctors shouldn't risk their own health. this is echoed by their own health. this is echoed by the royal college of nursing, who said its members could refuse to treat patients as a last resort if personal protective equipment is not getting through. we hear of equipment being sent out to the nhs and organisations across the country, hundreds of pairs of goggles and masks, but it is being used at a much higher rate than normal. so the pressure is still very much on the government to get that ppe out to those who need it. we will get more figures from the uk authorities later on the overall death toll? yes sometime this afternoon we will get an update from the department of health about the number of tests that have been carried out and the number of recorded deaths. thank you. the prime minister has now left hospital. he spent seven days at st thomas's hospital in london, being treated for coronavirus. 0ur correspondent is at the hospital for us how. correspondent is at the hospital for us now. what more can you tell us abou

that is the vice president of the royal college of anaesthetists. thank you very much. look at some of the other stories making the news around the world and russia has reported the world and russia has reported the largest daily increase in new coronavirus cases since the start of the outbreak. 2186 were confirmed infected with covid—19 in the last 24 infected with covid—19 in the last 2a hours. a total of 130 people have now died from the virus, according to russian figures. dutch security officials have reported a surge in attacks on mobile phone mast blaming extremist protesters who are against the roll—out of five g networks. 0fficials the roll—out of five g networks. officials say the damage could hinder calls to emergency services. attacks on 5g mass have increased after conspiracy theories emerge falsely leading coronavirus symptoms with the technology. at a meeting of its ruling party, the north korean leadership called for stricter measures to counter the spread of covid—19. pyongyang has already closed its border with china and further restricted the movement

the royal college of paediatrics as pa rents royal college of paediatrics as parents may be reluctantmay be reluctant to take a child to hospital fearing they could be infected will stop if you're worried about the health of your child, please, please, it's absolutely vital that you continue to seek help and advice was worth some people are not seeking medical advice for their children. when they normally would do. three if you need medical help, you must seek it. tastes big for many paediatricians who are seeing a fall in the number of children they are seeing in accident and emergency across a range of conditions. how have things been different in recent weeks? i'm speaking to people late lee and nationally, it is really, really obvious that we are seeing a huge decline in patient numbers attending our departments. they are really, really quiet and we are seeing very little instances of children presenting into departments at all. it is stunningly quiet at the moment. doctors believe a number of factors have led to parents avoiding a&e. including, the risk of catching covid—19. 0the

and i'm alsojoined by drjonathan leach who isjoint honorary secretary of the royal college of gps.d because he died five years ago from lung cancer. and iam five years ago from lung cancer. and i am getting on with my life, although i do have lupus, asthma and although i do have lupus, asthma and a heart problem, and i expected the letter to be for me and when i didn't get one, what is going on? the government website told you to contact your gp, where they are able to help? no, they haven't had any information about it, they have not heard anything from the government to direct their patients to get the letters at all. 0bviously, letters at all. obviously, you need it because it is confirmation you do need to shield for 12 weeks and it can help with other things, explain that. i think other things, explain that. ithinka other things, explain that. i think a few have had one of those letters a nd i think a few have had one of those letters and you are registered, you can get access to supermarket shopping, online shopping, and who nice for how long this will go on —— who knows. 0ne

such is the level of unease that the royal college of paediatrics and healthcare will tomorrow issuending parents when they should seek medical help for their children. the concerns are not confined to paediatricians. numbers in general a&e have also dipped, and midwives, too, have noticed a worrying change. we are finding here that we have got ladies that are actually not coming they are either delaying coming in or stopping themselves from contacting the hospital, just in case... because they are worried about covid. it is really, really important that if they have any changes or reduced movements of baby, so if their pattern of movement changes, it is very important to come and get checked. the message from medics is clear. yes, stay home, but please get help if you have serious concerns about your child. doctors want to see you. daniela relph, bbc news. many charities have had to stop their work and reduce support for large numbers of vulnerable people. the british red cross says there are thousands of refugees and asylum seekers living in poverty in the uk, although the governme

such is the level of unease that the royal college of paediatrics and healthcare will tomorrow issuedvising and reminding parents when they should seek medical help for their children. the concerns aren't confined to paediatricians. numbers in general a&e have also dipped, and midwives too have noticed a worrying change. we are finding here that we've got ladies that are actually not coming in. they are either delaying coming in or stopping themselves from contacting the hospital, just in case, because they are worried about covid. it's really, really important that if they have any changes or reduced movements for baby, so if their pattern of movement changes, it's very important that they come and get checked. the message from medics is clear. yes, stay home, but please get help if you have serious concerns about your child. doctors want to see you. daniela relph, bbc news. many charities have had to stop their work and reduce support for large numbers of vulnerable people. the british red cross says there are thousands of refugees and asylum seekers living in poverty in the uk, al

work closely with the royal college of nursing on these matters on other things in fact i was in contact with them only earlier today because it's so important that we get this right. martin from sky. good afternoon question 1st to the secretary of state of the on doyle if i may. secure state you paint a relative. of where we are within a moment but there is a very different picture being painted within our care and nursing homes i spent a full day in a nursing home the other day in which a full floor had been devoted to elderly patients suffering from coronavirus and i witnessed a flimsy p.p. over stretched out a lot of illness and unfortunately some deaths of some of the residents and what's been coming back from what i witnessed from the care sector is that they are crying out for tests home owners have been telling me that they're not getting regular tests for staff and residents but crucially for those being transferred from hospitals to the care sector and they are operating in the dark no tell you what my inbox is anything to go by today the care sector is watching us right now an

royal college of nursing, and unison.eith doyle reports. this is eileen landers. a cleaner at queens hospital burton who's died with covid—19. the hospital said she was dedicated to her work and to protecting patients. her family said she had a heart of gold. eileen is one of more than 100 workers across health and social care who have died with covid—19 while working on front—line services. nurses and doctors, paramedics and cleaners, care staff and consultants. all will be remembered at 11:00 this morning in a minute's silence organised by health unions, led by the prime minister. the families of health care workers who have died with the coronavirus while working on front—line services will now be entitled to a £60,000 payment. families of staff who die from coronavirus in the course of their essential front—line work will receive a £60,000 payment. of course, nothing replaces the loss of a loved one but we want to do everything that we can to support families who are dealing with this grief. that payment has been welc

what i was quoting was the royal college of physicians and i try to be careful to stick to the data andevidence rather than just coming up with an opinion. can i ask about testing? it is clear there has been an increase in testing since the last dispatch boxes and i welcome that. there is a further extension of expansion testing, there are significant problems. the government reported figures from monday showing a capacity to test 73,000, the highest it has ever been but only 43,000 actual tests were carried out. when you drill down into the figures only 29,000 people were tested. the number of people tested was 29,000. last week the press secretary said the problem was not capacity but lack of demand. i wasn't convinced to be honest but we know demand has gone through the roof. sites were unable to deal with those trying to book test. 30,000 tests were available, weren't used. i have to recognize the 100,000 today by thursday was only a staging post in the exact date doesn't matter as much as some would think. on march 12th the prime minister made clear his plan to ramp up daily testin

we work very closely with the royal college of surgeons and neither the royal couege surgeons and neithere have had to step down elective surgery in order to focus on ensuring that we cope with the surge in patients with the coronavirus. but as soon as we possibly can we do want to step that back up again. i think the chief medical officer has come on a number of occasions, articulated the consequences of a global pandemic in terms of deaths and harm to individuals and populations, the deaths that occur directly as a result of the coronavirus, we talked about that sadly earlier, there are other deaths and harm that occurs because the health service becomes overwhelmed and cannot cope, and we have not seen that here. as i said earlier the nhs has coped admirably and we have always maintained the capacity and it hasn't been overwhelmed. we can also see death and harm because individuals for whatever reason don't access the services that are up and running and that's why i opened today with a reminder to everybody that those emergency services are still there for you and you must not be afra

i'm delighted they have been welcomed by the medical royal colleges, the bma, the medical royal collegeset that protective equipment to them. these are unprecedented times for our health and care system, and i want to make sure that every part, every part of it, is supported. i have therefore made £300 million available for funding for community pharmacies, who do so much to get vital medicines to people and play such an important part in their communities. they themselves are the nhs front line. and today to help nhs trusts to deliver what is needed without worrying about past finances, i can announce that i am writing of £13.a billion of historic nhs debt. —— i am writing off. this landmark step will not only put the nhs in a strong position to be able to respond to this global coronavirus pandemic, but it will ensure that our nhs has stronger foundations for the future. this is only one part of the future. this is only one part of the picture. i quite understand as well where people are yearning for the certainty that good testing provides. i get it. public health england can be incre

over 6 percent of doctors are off due to corona virus related reasons but numbers revealed by the royal college of physicians are more than double the official figures reaching over 14 percent in the doctors' study also found that just 78 percent were able to access necessary equipment just over 30 percent could get hold of teens swabs and one in 10 reported not being able to get tests for patients who met the criteria of a more on the shortages of both medics and equipment of a joint in the next hour by an n.h.s. doctor. charities have warned that thousands of people suffering from cancer and other serious illnesses could die as health service resources are redirected to find coronavirus we understand covert 19 is presenting our healthcare systems with huge challenges but it is important cancer patients and their needs are not forgotten about sharing this time. influx of patients suffering from the virus means there's already a shortage of intensive care beds while operating theatres have been commandeered to handle intensive care unit overflow this is led to some surgery being perspiring such

we heard from doctors organisations on the royal college of nursing and doctors and nurses themselves's not forget the care workers who are providing care in nursing homes and residential homes. i've spoken to the care homes in my constituency and many of them have been worried that they are not getting enough, that it's not the right type, and they are also especially worried about testing because, look, if you are in a care home now, families are not going to visit, so the only way the infection would get in is through one of the staff. so care staff are desperate not to infect the people. the people they are going to work to care for. so we really need the plan for ppe and testing to get to care homes and home care agencies now, because these are some of the most frail and vulnerable people in society, and as isaid, vulnerable people in society, and as i said, we've seen in other countries some terrible, terrible incidents in care homes and we don't wa nt incidents in care homes and we don't want that happening here. as you say, part of the issue with the situation in care homes is

which represents doctors has been highlighting it according to a survey published today by the royal college of nursing 51 percent of nurses are being asked to reuse items of p.p. which is actually marked for single use now it's not really acceptable say the union so what has happened is that the authorities have changed their policy changed the guidelines instead of nurses the previous guidelines said they should be wearing long sleeved fluid repellent gowns what they are now saying is that well if that's not possible and there are 3 other options including including reuse they said some compromise is needed to optimize the supply of p p a in times of extreme shortages chris hopson chairman of the n.h.s. providers that represents the hospitals for example for that on standing in front of said we have now reached the point where the national stock of these long sleeve fluid repellent downs will be exhausted in 24 to 48 hours nursing staff medical staff of being put on the front line. well at the risk of not having to correct protection pub running bringing us up to date live from london than

i was very moved yesterday by the nurse, the head of the royal college of nurses, who spoke at the governments that lyse just mentioned, two young women, three young children, and they died trying to save patients. they were pleading, please stay in. this weekend, there is going to be such nice weather, you have kids to pacify — but please, everybody has to stay indoors. michael? just to say to people viewing, read your papers with proper journalistic scepticism . the projections about what will happen next, how many numbers, how many this. we simply can't know. the data collection on this disease have been very, very poor, so learn to read the numbers, it will help you with your anxiety. learn to read them with some scepticism. if you hear a hard facts, 5000 mask for 500,000 nhs workers, you can take that to the bank. someone said you can have 200,000 deaths, that is a meaningless extrapolation — ignore it. thank you all very much forjoining us on the programme. my thought before going — this virus is infectious, but a smile is much more so. from dateline london, until the same time next wee

the royal college of surgeons says the daily 2 thirds of its members report shortages of personal protective equipment all p.-p. aids one in 3 surgeons say they lack the equipment they need especially in scotland and the north west of england overall half of surgeons doubt the paid have access to a covert 19 test if they needed one and more than 70 percent say the government will be unable to end the lockdown until widespread testing is available royal college of nurses has asked its members to stop treating patients as a last resort if they're not adequately equipped. health care workers have died after contracting the virus while treating patients talk to emma coom is an n.h.s. pediatrician she told us that despite the government's assurances the protective equipment is being delivered she and her colleagues still don't have what they need . i think it's been really damaging to n.h.s. morale this week to hear ministers trying to shift the blame for the lack of supplies of p.p.a. to the n.h.s. and was still suggests the plane may lie with n.h.s. staff misusing the p.p.a. and i think what th

we'll also be speaking to the royal college of nursing about those two young nurses who've died after testing positive for coronavirus. but first simon jones has this report. these were the scenes in snowdonia two weeks ago where many people ignored government advice. crowds flocked to the coast and parks were busy too. now, with even more stringent curbs on our movements in place, the health secretary says staying at home and protecting lives is not a request but an instruction. we're set for a warm weekend in some parts of the country. but the disease is still spreading. and we absolutely cannot afford to relax the social distancing measures that we have in place. we cannot relax our discipline now. if we do, people will die. government regulations state everyone must stay at home but you can leave under the following circumstances: for one form of exercise a day — the advice is to say as local as possible. you can go out to shop for basic necessities such as food and medicine, but as infrequently as possible. you're also allowed outside of the house for any medical needs or to prov

the chief executive of the royal college of nursing said there is no truth to the suggestion, that staffot using ppe properly. 0ver the suggestion, that staff are not using ppe properly. over 700 million pieces of ppe guns, gloves, and so forth, —— gloves, happy child challenges around distribution but there are plans to get more of this equipment to the front line. thank you very much, jenny. in spain, the number of daily deaths from covid—19 has continued to slow. the latest figures show 510 more people have died the lowest rise for 18 days. this takes the total number of deaths to just over 16300, the spanish health ministry has announced. 0ur correspondent, guy hedgecoe, says the mood is one of very cautious optimism. these are the best figures we have seenin these are the best figures we have seen in terms of daily deaths since march 23. it is a drop from yesterday, almost by 100, compared to yesterday. clearly that is encouraging and it would appear to continue this trend that we have been seeing over the last week or so, will be daily deaths have been dropping. however, you have t

dr katherine henderson is the president of the royal college of emergency medicine.a central london emergency department. thank you for being with us. in terms of the work you do, it is in accident and emergency settings rather than intensive care units. by the time people get to intensive care, you know they have covid—19. you don't know what you might have only arrived in the ne. how are staff doing with that and are you worried that it will have a knock—on effect elsewhere? yes, very early on we divided our departments into areas where it was likely that the patient had covid—19 at areas where we felt their presentation did not... risk them having covid—19 so that we could keep patients who came in and had chest pains that seem to be from their hearts, we could keep them safe. but obviously the public are worried about community hospitals and what we are worried about is that people who are —— you should be coming in, we see no reason why the number of straight heart attack should go down, so we think those patients are staying at home which worries us. so you are

last week following extensive consultation with the medical royal colleges, all four uk governments updatedhat ppd use in what circumstances. the new guidance included clinical and vice that many items of ppe can be used for a whole session, not be changed after treating each individual patient. everyone still protected but there is enough ppe to go around. the guidance is also clear where ppe is not needed. because outside of health and social ca re because outside of health and social care in most circumstances, the best way to protect yourself and to protect others is to regularly wash her hands and wherever possible to keep at least two metres between you and other people when you leave your house. and of course the most important way to protect yourself is to stay at home. because a front door is better than any facemask. the second strand of her ppe plan is about distribution making sure that anyone who needs ppe can get it and at the right time. this is a herculean which is sickle effort. we brought together the nhs, private industry, and the army, in fact the armed forces to create

the chair of the royal college of gps is saying the royal college of gps is saying the doctors aren'trop in the number of people going to a&e. what are your thoughts on what is going on? is it what you would expect to see from your experience of what has happened in previous pandemics?” your experience of what has happened in previous pandemics? i think if you look back to sars, you did see a fall off in people attending for heart disease, people were more severely ill, and more routine care was definitely... they did not keep their appointments, because people do get anxious and concerned. i would just reinforce jess's do get anxious and concerned. i would just reinforcejess's advice just now. it is really important that if you have a long—term condition and you are not well, you should phone your gp and discuss with your gp. there has been more of a use of phone consultations, scape consultations, ways in which you can get the advice you need, and i am sure if you do need to go to hospital, then the hospitals are very hospital, then the hospitals are very aware hospital, then the ho

hancock said the protective kit was on its way to hospitals that says the latest research by the royal college of physicians suggests the government is also underestimating the number of medics off work due to the virus. official figures released by the department of health and social care says that over 6 percent of doctors are off due to corona virus related reasons the numbers revealed by the royal college of physicians are more than double the official figures reaching over 14 percent the doctors study also found that just 78 percent were able to access the necessary equipment to have a 30 percent could get hold of covert 900 swabs and one in 10 reported not being able to get tests for patients who met the criteria. well dr american told me that homemade personal protective equipment leaves medical staff at high risk. it's really sad that this is still going on i think as it has an n.h.s. g.p. or doctors everywhere i think we are sick to the back teeth really of hearing from the government that the p.v.t. is on its way the military are delivering it i'm sure the military is doing their bes

of midwives and the royal college of midwives and the royal college of obstetricians and gynaecologistsh covid—19. as for oil health care workers, use of personal protective equipment and risk assessments according to current guidance will provide pregnant workers with protection from infection. the arrival of rapid covid—19 testing will significantly assist in organising care provision." the assist in organising care provision. " the guidance assist in organising care provision." the guidance will be updated appropriately when tests are commonly available, it says. despite continual promises to ramp up the distribution of ppe and testing, workers on the front line has been left wanting. will you commit to ensuring that there is a review of the guidance for pregnant health ca re the guidance for pregnant health care workers in light of the in pp distribution and testing being a long way off being commonly available? long way off being commonly available ? will you long way off being commonly available? will you commit to think that revised guidance coming straight from the nhs and gover

a survey by the royal college of nursing found that half of nursing staff felt under pressure to works of protective equipment set out in official guidance. this has been a stress—test of our resilience, and the government plan is clearly not working. so can i ask the first secretary to tell front—line workers at risk, when will they finally get the equipment they need to keep them safe? since the start of the outbreak, we've delivered 1 billion items of personal protective equipment and tens of millions have been distributed via the devolved administrations. we recognise though that we've got to strive even harder in this incredibly difficult and competitive international environment to source the equipment. sir keir said the government had also failed to take up offers from british firms to help out. something's going wrong. there's a patern emerging here. we were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment and now slow to take up these offers from british firms. i don't accept his premise that we've been slow. we have been guided by the scientific advice, the

i think that the royal colleges are doing this already but i will check that that is happening. asked the question about the disproportionate number of people from minority ethnic backgrounds in the figures of those who died. we are indeed investigating that and i will make sure that he has a copy of the results of that investigation as soon as it is concluded. it is a very important piece of work. in the same way that there is a disproportionate number of men who are badly affected by this disease compared to women. we need to look at all of these characteristics and make sure we have the full analysis, so we can learn how to treat. he asked about care homes. all deaths in care homes of course are recorded. the figures, the difference in the figures between the figures produced by the c0 sea, the figures produced by the c0 sea, the office for national statistics and the nhs. those figures measure different things at different time frames. it is very important to look ata frames. it is very important to look at a vigorous analysis of the three. yesterday there was some debate ab

very briefly, i was very moved yesterday by the nurse, the head of the royal college of nurses, who spokerence, and was talking about these two nurses that lyse just mentioned, two young women, three children, and they died working to save patients. they were pleading, please stay in. i mean, this weekend, it's really hard in britain, everybody wants to go outside, you have kids to pacify — there is going to be such nice weather, everybody wants to go outside, you have kids to pacify — but please, everybody has to stay indoors. michael? just to say to all people viewing — read your papers with proper journalistic scepticism. the projections about what will happen next, how many numbers, how many this — we simply can't know. the data collection on this disease have been very, very poor, so learn to read the numbers, it will help you with your anxiety. learn to read the numbers with some scepticism. if you hear a hard fact — 5,000 masks for 500,000 nhs workers, you can take that to the bank. if someone says, you can have 100,000 or 250,000 deaths, that is a meaningless extrapolation, ignore

very moved yesterday by the verse, the head of the royal couege by the verse, the head of the royal collegece, talking about these two nurses that nine mike just about these two nurses that nine mikejust mention, two about these two nurses that nine mike just mention, two young women, three young children, and they died to save patients. they were pleading, please stay in. this weekend, that is going to be such a nice weather, you have kids to pacfiy— nice weather, you have kids to pacify— but please, everybody has to stay indoors. michael? just to say to people viewing, you read your papers were properjournalistic scepticism is. the projections about what will happen next, how many numbers, how many less. we simply can't know. the data collection on this disease have been very, very poor suit learn to read the numbers, it will help you with your anxiety. learn to read them with some scepticism. hard facts, 5000 mask for nhs workers, you can take that to the bank. someone said you can have 200,000 deaths, that is a meaningless extrapolation— ignore it. thank you all are very much for joining

in a statement the academy of medical royal colleges — which monitors patient care — said the nhs remainsical assistance if needed. while the london region has seen the highest number of deaths and confirmed cases in the uk, the midlands has seen a sharp rise in infections. the mayor of the west midlands has insisted the region's hospitals are prepared. the wider midlands region is "a particular area of concern" to the government, with a total ofjust under 1,200 deaths there so far, as our correspondent sian lloyd reports. at the moment... distressing to watch, a 37—year—old nurse struggling for breath in intensive care. at 29 weeks pregnant, michelle wright does not know where she contracted the virus but feels compelled, she says, to send a message to those who are still not following advice aimed at halting its spread. please... please, please... listen to government advice... 0n social distancing. keep yourself... and yourfamilies... as safe as possible. a new facility to help cope with the sharp rise in cases in the midlands is being prepared. this nightingale hospital on the outskir

the royal college of surgeons says it will take years for the health service to catch up. 0ur healthisc means she relies on powerful painkillers. a simple operation to correct it was cancelled because of the coronavirus crisis. now this previously fit 73—year—old is struggling. i can't go anywhere, i can't do anything. ijust feel as if i'm losing muscle power and things like that. things that you like to keep up, especially at my age. you don't have many opportunities, and... i just feel that one small operation would change all of that. visits from her son alistair help... i've got the shopping for you. ..but he's noticed a big difference in how his mum is coping. thank you! she's now got, like, more of a grey, gaunt look about her. that the sparkle is not there. i think psychologically it's kind of affected her. also physically, the pain, it's very difficult when you're in pain to be happy and smiling as you normally are. the cancellation of operations and procedures has affected thousands of people who might have been waiting for anything from a hip operation to cancer treatment,

here at the royal college of nursing they feel that the role of nurses has been overlooked, that ford nurses were to the virus, whether working in hospitals, care homes or the community, and that unlike some other nhs staff, the work of nurses is almost always up close and personal. the government says it's working around the clock to provide the protective equipment that staff need. it says in the past two weeks, with the help of the army, it's delivered 390 million pieces of equipment, with another 4.7 million facemasks today in england and smaller deliveries are taking place in the rest of the uk. but doctors say it's not just about the quantity of equipment they are receiving, but also the quality. the packsjust are inadequate, and they have very few items in them, and they simply won't be enough to protect staff for more than a few hours at most, and we know that this is a virus that potentially is deadly to people that catch it. what we've seen from italy and china and elsewhere is that if we don't get this right, then doctors and nurses will die. tomorrow, new official guideli

the chair of the royal college of gps is saying the doctors aren't seeing the usual cases of early cancer also been a big drop in the number of people going to a&e. what are your thoughts on what is going on? is it what you would expect to see from your experience of what has happened in previous pandemics? i think if you look back to sars, you did see a fall off in people attending for heart disease, people were more severely ill, and more routine care was definitely... they did not keep their appointments, because people do get anxious and concerned. i would just reinforce jess's advice just now. it is really important that if you have a long—term condition and you are not well, you should phone your gp and discuss with your gp. there has been more use of phone consultations, skype consultations, ways in which you can get the advice you need, and i am sure if you do need to go to hospital, then the hospitals are very aware of the need to keep people separated, social distancing, the hygiene, all of those issues, so if you need care, it is important you go to get care. the first step is

the royal college of anaesthetists say stocks of medicines in some areas are also stressed.alternatives but have reassure patients that they would not be put at risk. let's talk about the nature of this virus. frank ryan is a co nsulta nt of this virus. frank ryan is a consultant physician and evolutionary biologist. we get to speak to some very eminent people! frank, thank you forjoining us. what would you like to know about the coronavirus, covid—19, that you don't know yet? well, i come to a very different direction. there are two sides to this story and all we are hearing at the moment is one side. that is the prevention of the infection. everything is about prevention. even if we got a vaccine, that is the prevention of infection. i come in as a clinician, someone who attacks back on the other side, looking to stop or kill the virus that is causing the infection, which is a very different sort of approach. a long time ago in the late 1980s, early 90s i travelled to a lot of different countries speaking to a most remarkable group of doctors. they we re remarkable group o

a cent estimate by the royal college of physicians suggested a quarter of all nhs doctors had eitherfallenelf—isolate because of concerns about a family member showing symptoms. it was the same for many nurses. testing them for coronavirus would enable many to return to work if found to be in the clear. but the government's been slow to focus on testing in general, and in particular, for health workers. so what we are calling for is a national testing strategy, a strategy to ramp up the community testing and contact tracing, like we are seeing in other country, that is how they have been able to beat this virus or get this virus under control and suppressed. so now, nhs england is calling on hospitals to use 15% of their testing capability on staff. the government's going further, saying hospitals should use any spare laboratory capacity they have, to test as many nhs staff for the virus as possible. we wa nts the virus as possible. we wants to see more people tested, very rapidly, we do now have enough tests to be testing those people in critical conditions in hospitals, so much so that w

we're joined now by dr katherine henderson, president of the royal college of emergency medicine heretop having heart attacks or strokes just because there is a pandemic, or those patients now stayed away from hospitals? it certainly seems unlikely that we would have seen an acute reduction in the number of people having those sorts of medical conditions. you can understand people not having car crashes, but you can't understand people not having strokes or heart attacks. we have certainly not been seen them coming into the emergency department. you can understand the fear in some of their minds, if they are feeling unwell, they might think, why risk going to hospital and catching a disease that will make it even worse for them, that they might try to ride it out at home. how can you convince them that it would be safe to seek treatment? ican it would be safe to seek treatment? i can absolutely understand that fear. what they need to understand is the practical measures that we are making to make it safe. we cannot make it zero risk, but we can reduce the risk as much as possible and

the advice was condemned by the british medical association and the royal college of nursing, but theich he appeared to endorse protests against stringent lockdown measures in several us states, saying some were "too tough". earlier, he wrote in a series of tweets: "liberate minnesota," "liberate michigan," and then "liberate virginia." officials say the curbs, including the stay—at—home orders, are needed to halt the spread of coronavirus. this year's university graduates will suffer "scarring effects" which could mean they spend years in lower paid, non—gradutejobs. that's according to the institute for fiscal studies, which says experience of previous recessions shows that starting work during an economic downturn leads to a negative impact. those are the main stories. we need to talk about sport, and some sad news coming from the world of sport. the football world continues to pay tribute to the leeds united legend norman hunter, who died yesterday at the age of 76, after spending a week in hospital with coronavirus. hunter made more than 700 appearances for leeds over a 14—year p

of nursing, the academy of medical royal colleges. give you a precise number because it varies from day to day and from organisation to organisation, but i can assure you we are collecting that information and asked the supply chain has changed, with the assistance of the military, we have that level of detail at organisational level and at the same time we are ensuring there is a good line of sight to the equipment that is available and that which will be coming in through the third strand which is procuring equipment. clearly there is a global demand for personal protective equipment at the moment and i know that the government with our support is working night and day to ensure we procure the ppe we need. for instance, the ffp3 masks you mention, i have confidence we have supplies of ffp3 masks that are required. on gowns we are working very ha rd required. on gowns we are working very hard as we speak. we extended the use of downs in the guidance la st the use of downs in the guidance last week. we knew there would be some short—t

downing street was asked today about the royal college of nursing advising their members, the nursingk they should be able to turn round and refused to do theirjobs. it obviously puts them ina do theirjobs. it obviously puts them in a very difficult position. the government not restating that line but saying they are working with the royal college of nursing and the priority is to get ppe to the front line as quickly as possible. it's a huge logistical challenge but it doesn't seem one the government is quite on top of yet. all these weeks into the crisis. with those reports of shortages at the front line still. you were talking earlier about almost no possibility of the lockdown being lifted right now, but we are now starting to report other countries who are a little further ahead in the pandemic, like italy and spain, thinking of trying to slowly in certain ways lift restrictions and the government in the uk will look to see what they do. they will be watching closely. let's remember the uk was days and in some cases weeks behind other european countries in putting in place restric

good afternoon, we have heard today that the royal college of nursing or advising staff to refused toient ppe as a last resort. we also understand this advice applies in scotland as well. we know that the scottish government is obviously pushing for adequate supplies of personal protection equipment but we also know there are shortages and problems with the delivery. what impact has this advice likely to have on the care of people diagnosed with coronavirus, that they can expect from the nhs, also the efforts to source ppe equipment for health care workers? is this likely to focus minds more? i spoke with the rcn just on friday at the end of last week and we will continue to keepin last week and we will continue to keep in touch with them, as i do weekly with the bma, with the unions, iam weekly with the bma, with the unions, i am speaking to unison next week and with scottish care. ppe is a co nsta nt week and with scottish care. ppe is a constant source of activity and scrutiny and oversight, on my part, but also on the part of my ministerial team. we constantly are looking at the s

together because of his work schedule and his schedule with his training and schedule with the royal collegeerything. and he meant everything to his nhs colleagues. an absolutely fabulous man, inspirational. inspirational on the shop floor and love the clinical challenge and had a massive intellect and encyclopedic knowledge and was an inspiration for many junior doctors many doctors who dedicated their career to the nhs have died coronavirus. like this surgeon have died coronavirus. like this surgeon from india who died in the welsh hospital where he worked for 25 years. ruben munoz, one of the thousands of filipino health care workers, described as a highly respected and talented nursing assistant. and miss ballesteros, a 64—year—old nurse who loved herjob. as the death toll rises, a distressing pattern has emerged. black and minority ethnic workers represent 44% of doctors in nhs england. and just over a fifth of nurses, midwives and health visitors. but bbc analysis shows that they account for a disproportionately high 58 out of the 84 recorded deaths in the uk health workforce, but we s

he had the royal college of nursing they feel that the role of nurses has been overlooked.e considerjust how exposed nurses we re considerjust how exposed nurses were to the virus whether working in hospitals, care homes or the community and that unlike some other nhs staff, the work of nurses is almost always up close and personal. the government says it is working around the clock to provide the protective equipment that staff need. it says in the past two weeks with the help of the army it has delivered 390 million pieces of equipment with another 4.7 million facemasks today. but doctors say it is not just about the quantity facemasks today. but doctors say it is notjust about the quantity of equipment they are receiving but also the quality. the packs are inadequate and they are very few items in them and they simply will not be enough to protect staff for more than if few hours at most and we know that this is a virus that potentially is deadly to people that catch it. what we seen from italy and china and elsewhere is if we do not get this right then doctors and nurse

s royal college of surgeons says nearly 2 thirds of its members report shortages of personal protective equipment one in 3 surgeons say they lack the protection they need especially in scotland and northwest england overall half of surgeons dapat have access to a covert $1000.00 test if they needed one and more than 70 percent said the government would be unable to end the lockdown until widespread testing is available when you saw her briefly in a reporter earlier talk to emma kerman who's a pediatrician with the national health service she also told us that despite the government's assurances that protective equipment is being delivered she and her colleagues still don't have what they need. i think it's been really damaging to n.h.s. morale this week to hear ministers trying to shift the blame for the lack of supplies of p.p.a. to the n.h.s. and was still suggests the plane may lie with n.h.s. staff misusing the p.p.a. and i think what they said in the briefing certainly will be no condolence to the families of the n.h.s. staff members who have lost their lives after becoming on well

gowns within 24 to 48 house sense by close of play on sunday unless more supplies are found on the royal college of nursing that's the union which represents the nursing staff says that 51 percent of the members in a survey that they've done this week 51 percent have been asked to work in contact with coronavirus patients without full protective equipment the response of public health england was to change the guidelines essentially watered down the that the tightness of the of the guidelines saying the compromise was needed to optimize the supply of p.p.a. in times of extreme shortages but as i say this is becoming not just a health care issue does not becoming a real political headache for the government indeed for the update thank you. some health experts have all that iran's capital may be reopened too soon but the government says it's time to shift the focus back to the economy from time has more on the easing of restrictions. after nearly 2 months of being closed because of the coronavirus businesses in the iranian capital are waking up from their hibernation for main street shops like thi