, our thanks to chair of the royal college of gps, ourthanks to him. chair of the royal collegen who should know about drawing up budgets is the former conservative mp ken clarke — he was chancellor of the exchequer from 1993 to 1997 under sirjohn major — and he‘s in our westminster studio. great to see you, thank you very much forjoining us. your sense of the scale of today‘s package, what did you make of it? i was impressed, for his first budget after four weeks in office he did the right things. there were odd things i would have done differently, not much, and he did of course face an extraordinary situation. here he is new in office, the economy is stag na nt new in office, the economy is stagnant and manufacturing in recession, the global outlook very uncertain. brexit, and we don't know what will happen on trade wars and this budget firstly has to deal with the covid—19 crisis, and so the two bits of it, the first is how to minimise the damage of the peak when it comes and we don't know how bad it comes and we don't know how bad it will be and how quickly it will go away.

we took these concerns to the chair of the royal college of gps and asked, had enough been done to protecttanding of the pressures that the whole system is under. this is a massive crisis — probably the biggest crisis that the nhs has ever had to face. you know, we're not saying that the health professionals are more important than patients. we're just saying that health professionals have a responsibility. we therefore need to keep them as healthy as possible. we need to get them back into the workforce as quickly as possible. so we are asking that health professionals are tested early. the government will do all we can to help you and your family during this period. the prime minister has asked patients with mild symptoms not to call the nhs111 helpline. the patients with milder symptoms are going to be very, very anxious and their only access point to the nhs if it's not 111, is primary care and their gp practices. busy days ahead for doctors in the fight against the coronavirus. faye kirkland, bbc news. back to breaking news from the world of sport. it's a busy morning already, what wi

he's chairman of the royal college of gps. thanks forjoining us.ou are at the gp end, what are your preoccupations the gp end, what are your preoccu pations right now? the gp end, what are your preoccupations right now? there are a number of challenges the general practices facing. the biggest challenge that gps as well as the whole of the nhs has had to face perhaps ever and its history. the keyissues perhaps ever and its history. the key issues for us, certainly around the size of the workforce. the decision to bring back people who have recently retired and indeed to bring junior doctors who perhaps haven't completely finished their training into the workforce, is absolutely welcome because we know the workforce is being diminished by people who are either ll or self isolating. the use of ppe is also important, some people are concerned about the quality of the ppe that is being used and its availability. all the evidence we have at the moment, everything we are hearing from nhs england and the department of health, is that there is out there at

on wednesday the chair of the royal college of gps wrote to matt hancock asking for this urgent clarityor the moment for our members who are gps and clinical directors, nurses and pharmacists. they are concerned that they are putting themselves at risk, their teams at risk and patients at risk by if they are unable to wear equipment for all face—to—face consultations. she is asking for this guidance to be clarified early urgently. how much we know at this stage? the guidelines are under review and we have seen evidence of an update on the guidance or clarification is expected very shortly, with in 48—hour is. the department of health itself hasn't commented on this but i understand what is or isn't going to be announced is still under review. the prime minister said on wednesday that he has been assured that stocks of ppe was on its way to nhs staff. thank you very much. the head of the international monetary fund has been speaking in the last few minutes on the economic impact of covid—19 — she says it's clear the global economy has entered a recession as bad or worse than the one felt

we took these concerns to the chair of the royal couege concerns to the chair of the royal college of gpso be a little bit understanding of the pressures that the whole system is under and this is a massive crisis. probably the biggest growth is the nhs has ever had to face and we not saying health professionals are more important than patients, we'rejust saying they have a responsibility and we need to them as healthy as possible and keep them in the workforce as quickly as possible so we are having them tested early. we will do all we can to help you and your family during this period. the prime minister has asked patients with mild symptoms not to call the nhs 111 with mild symptoms not to call the nhs111 helpline. patients with mild symptoms will be very anxious and the only access to the energetic it isn't faye kirkland —— if it isn't 111 is the 111 number and their gps. faye kirkland, bbc news. you're watching breakfast. so many people have questions about how their day—to—day lives will be affected. still to come: with elderly people among those most at risk from the coronavirus, w

royal college of general practitioners. he's written a letter to the health secretary, matt hancock, raising concerns of gps carrying out patientrotective equipment. hejoins me now from west london. professor marshall, thank you so much for talking to us. what is your concern, and the concern of the gps you represent? this is a massive challenge for general practice. we know that tens of thousands of gps across the country are rising to this challenge. they're working flat out, they're increasingly on the front of care for people with covid, they will be dealing with more patients who are infected, and increasingly sick patience who are infected as well, so what we are concerned about is the availability of the protective gear that we need. we hear what ministers are saying, we understand how frustrating it is, the logistic challenges that they're experiencing, but what we're hearing from gps around the country are three concerns. the first one is about the availability of the protective equipment. is there enough out there and is it getting to the right places? there remains gaps. the second is about the quality of the protect

joining us to discuss this is gp dr chaand nagpaul, the chair of the council of the british medical association and the president of the royal collegeople. with testing, what difference would that make to those numbers particularly? i think would make a big difference when we get there. i have lots of collea g u es when we get there. i have lots of colleagues at the moment you are sitting at home with family members who have symptoms. they themselves don't have symptoms, they are trying to get back to work. so if we can get people back on the floor, that would be brilliant. and doctor nagpaul, what are you hearing about the difference when people are getting tested? as you heard, this is only now being announced, starting effectively today, so until now, what we have experienced in hospitals as professor goddard has said but also in general practice is significant said but also in general practice is significa nt staff said but also in general practice is significant staff shortages, and it isn'tjust doctors, its nurses, front—line staff, who have been self— isolating, front—line staff, who have been self—isolating, often feeling we