CORONAVIRUS: Current Miss England returns to Pilgrim as junior doctor to join fight against virus

Bhasha Mukherjee had no hesitation in stepping back into the fray as a junior doctor at the town’s hospital after getting messages from friends and colleagues about how the situation was developing.

She is now in self-isolating for a fortnight before going into work because she wasn’t tested while travelling in India and during her 30 hour return flights.

And although she is keen to help her colleagues again, Bhasha believes more should be being done to help and support doctors and health workers.

She is concerned about the lack of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) at the hospital after being told by colleagues it is in short supply.

And she says there is a financial issue, where workers are having to pay much higher prices for accommodation because single room apartments on site at the hospital cost around twice as much as the kind of prices she and her colleagues were paying for shared accommodation in town, which is no longer available to them because of the virus.

She has now set up a petition calling for action on the accommodation issue through Change.org

“If we rented with non-medical staff, we put them at risk,” she said. “We are trying to keep people safe by not going and living with our families. The point of being in hospital accommodation is so we can have minimal contact with non-health staff. That way we contain infection.”

She says in the petition: “Previously I was living in a shared house with a rent of £85 a week , all inclusive of bills.

“Now with COVID 19, I will be potentially risking non -medical housemates and the community everyday if I was to live under similar circumstances, so I am left with no choice to opt for hospital accommodation which is an extortionate £605 minimum for doctors of my pay grade.

“I speak not only for myself but also all the medical staff that are being forced to choose such accommodation when they're working 13 hour shifts a day almost seven days a week , hardly using the living spaces and paying prices comparative of cities like London.”

Bhasha told the Standard that she understood health workers in other trusts were getting free accommodation, and she just wanted to see a level playing field for everybody.

Her petition, which can be found at change.org here, is calling for NHS staff to be given at least 50 per cent discounted living in hospital accommodation during the current crisis.

She said she was also concerned about PPE at the hospital.

“There is a general feeling of we have no choice but to deal with the situation. A few conversations with my colleagues have left me very concerned; for example, the PPE situation, one of my colleagues was working in ICU and there was just not enough PPE. That’s definitely a big problem.”

But she said the support that had been shown to medical staff across the country, and globally, through gestures like Clap for Carers, was heartwarming.

“The way the whole country has come together makes me really happy. It’s not just for medics, but all key workers are being recognised, and it is high time they were given the recognition they deserve.”

And she said appeals like the one set up to provide food for hospital staff in Boston were very welcome.

“After a long shift, something like a cake being brought in, just a kind gesture like that, means a lot.

“Most of the time medics and health staff don’t get to sit down and eat their meals, especially at a time like this. A little gesture of kindness where someone brings in a treat, definitely adds to the morale."

A spokesman for United Lincolnshire Health Trust said: “We are doing everything we can to support our heroic staff at this time. One way we are doing this is by offering colleagues who are unable to return home due to coronavirus the option of getting in touch with a dedicated team at the Trust who are doing everything they can to provide free accommodation.”

Bernie Keenan, Deputy Chief Executive of Progress Housing Group said: “Progress Living is a charitable organisation (part of Progress Housing Association)which has worked closely with the ULHT providing much needed hospital accommodation for nearly 15 years. Our rents are agreed with the Trust and are set in line with independent market valuations carried out periodically and which reflect the nature of the accommodation and services provided.

"Like our colleagues in the NHS, our own staff are working incredibly hard, night and day, seven days of the week, to keep our accommodation available, clean and properly maintained for the increased numbers of medical staff requiring places to stay. We will continue to work closely with the Trust and with the NHS to respond to any additional requirements they have during this very difficult period.”