The NHS workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
From doctors to porters, dozens of frontline workers have already died in the fight against the pandemic.
Downing Street says there has been “significant progress” in efforts to improve testing of frontline NHS workers, but criticism surrounding the protective equipment they are provided with persists.
The Government has confirmed 19 deaths amongst those working for the health service, but announcements from NHS trusts and tributes from loved ones indicate the true number is higher still.
Here are the NHS workers the PA news agency has confirmed to have died during the coronavirus pandemic so far:
– Melujean Ballesteros, nurse
The “dedicated and very caring” Filipino nurse, 60, died at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London, on Sunday, April 12, just two days after being admitted.
– Kevin Smith, plaster technician
He worked at the hospital for more than 35 years and was “renowned for his warm personality, diligence and compassion”, the trust said.
– Oscar King Jr, hospital porter
Aged 45, Oscar King Jr, a Filipino porter at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, passed away on April 11. He was said to have worked for the hospital for more than a decade, “always doing his job with great enthusiasm and joy”.
– Elbert Rico, hospital porter
A colleague of Mr King Jr at John Radcliffe, Mr Rico worked as a porter there since moving to the UK from the Philippines in 2004 “and loved the work that he did”, according to a fundraising page published by his family.
– Gareth Roberts, nurse
The death of the “extremely popular” Mr Roberts, who came out of retirement in 2015 having worked since the 1980s, was confirmed by Cardiff and Vale University Health Board on April 11.
– Donna Campbell, healthcare support worker
– Sara Trollope, nurse
A 51-year-old matron for older adult mental health services in Hillingdon, west London, Ms Trollope died at Watford General hospital on April 10 after testing positive for the virus.
– Julie Omar, nurse
Aged 52, the trauma and orthopaedics nurse at Redditch’s Alexandra Hospital, in Worcestershire, died at home while self-isolating with symptoms on April 10.
– Amor Gatinao, nurse
The nurse is reported to have died on the morning of April 10, having worked at St Charles Hospital, west London.
– Aimee O’Rourke, nurse
Aged 39, the nurse and mother died at the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital (QEQMH) in Margate, Kent, where she worked, on Thursday April 9.
– Dr Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, consultant urologist
The 53-year-old wrote a Facebook post asking Prime Minister Boris Johnson to urgently provide every NHS worker with PPE just five days before he died on the night of Wednesday April 8.
The 62-year-old worked as a locum registrar in the emergency department of Great Western Hospital in Swindon, Wiltshire, and died “doing a job he loved” on April 8.
– Fayez Ayache, GP
– Elsie Sazuze, care home nurse
Mrs Sazuze, who worked for Wolverhampton-based agency Totallycare, died on April 7 at Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield, according to the BBC, who spoke with her husband Ken.
– Leilani Dayrit, nurse
– Donald Suelto, nurse
The 51-year-old, who worked at Hammersmith Hospital in west London, died on April 7 after going into self-isolation with coronavirus symptoms.
– Alice Kit Tak Ong, nurse
The 70-year-old, originally from Hong Kong, died on April 7 after 44 years of working for the NHS. She was described by her daughter Melissa as “generous to everyone else before herself”.
The 58-year-old healthcare support worker from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) became the first nurse in Scotland to die as a result of the coronavirus pandemic on April 6.
– Syed Haider, GP
The family doctor worked in Dagenham, east London, and died in hospital on April 6 after it is believed he developed coronavirus symptoms.
– Barbara Moore, patient discharge planner
– Dr Alfa Saadu, doctor
The 68-year-old, who had returned to work from retirement, died on April 6 at the Whittington Hospital in north London.
– Jitendra Rathod, surgeon
A “highly regarded” associate specialist in cardio-thoracic surgery at the University Hospital of Wales, Mr Rathod died on the morning of April 6.
Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow, Essex announced the death of 54-year-old – the first involving a serving NHS midwife after testing positive for the virus – on April 5.
– Glen Corbin, nurse
The 59-year-old had worked at the Park Royal Centre for Mental Health in Harlesden, north-west London, for more than 25 years and his Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust announced his death on April 4.
– Rebecca Mack, nurse
– Liz Glanister, nurse
– John Alagos, nurse
The Mail On Sunday reported that the 27-year-old nurse – who treated coronavirus patients at Watford General Hospital – died after a shift on Friday April 3.
– Areema Nasreen, nurse
Aged 36, Ms Nasreen died on April 2 in intensive care at Walsall Manor Hospital in the West Midlands – where she had worked for 16 years.
– Sami Shousha, researcher
The professor, 79, who had worked at UK cancer research laboratories at London’s Hammersmith and Charing Cross hospitals since 1978, died on April 2.
– Thomas Harvey, nurse
– Dr Amged El-Hawrani, consultant
– Pooja Sharma, pharmacist
Ms Sharma, a pharmacist at Eastbourne District General Hospital, died unexpectedly on March 26 according to a JustGiving page created in her memory.
– Dr Habib Zaidi, doctor
– Dr Adil El Tayar, transplant surgeon
The 63-year-old died at West Middlesex University Hospital in Isleworth, west London, on March 25, working as a locum surgeon before his death.
– Dr Anton Sebastianpillai, consultant
