Coronavirus: Doctors 'told not to discuss PPE shortages'
One NHS doctor tells BBC Newsnight he was told by managers at his hospital to "stop causing a fuss".
www.bbc.com
Some NHS managers have tried to stop doctors speaking publicly about shortages of personal protective equipment, the BBC has been told.
WhistleblowersUK said more than 100 healthcare workers had contacted them since the beginning of March, raising concerns about Covid-19 and PPE.
The Department of Health said no one should be prevented from speaking up.
But Newsnight has seen evidence of pressure being applied to doctors to not share concerns they have about PPE.
A newsletter sent out to staff at one trust suggested subjects for tweets, such as thanking staff for their hard work, paying tribute to retired NHS staff who had returned to the workforce and retweeting posts from the trust's account.
It specified that staff were to avoid "commenting on political issues, such as PPE".
Another trust put up posters in hospital staff areas which told healthcare workers not to "make public appeals for equipment, donations or volunteers".
'Stop causing a fuss'
One doctor who had posted concerns about PPE shortages online spoke to BBC Newsnight anonymously, for fear of reprisal from his hospital.
"They hauled me up in front of a panel of senior managers - it was very, very intimidating", he said.
"They kept on feeding me what felt like government type of lines, saying 'this hospital has never had PPE shortages' - which I know to be factually untrue. And that essentially I should stop causing a fuss.
"There have been colleagues who've died at my hospital. And there have been a handful more who've been in ICU (intensive care units).
"It's very, very concerning that we can't even say our colleagues have died, please don't let us be next."
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They said they were told by their manager that if they continued to speak out they would get a "reputation" and "find it hard to get a job at that trust or others in the region".
The doctor said: "I was told we need positive messaging that suggested everyone in the NHS is working very hard, we are doing our best in the pandemic. I was told this is what we need to be putting out, not negative stories."
Let's clap for the NHS instead, gotta love the conservative government. It's pretty obvious they've been trying to downplay how unprepared they were.
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