Top doctor warns of ‘huge surge’ facing NHS after Covid crisis ends

Dr Tom Black, NI council chairman of the British Medical Association (the trade union for doctors), made the comments ahead of today’s one-year anniversary of the start of UK lockdown.

He said that “we are in a much better place than we were this time last year as we now know much more about Covid-19 and how to treat it, and the vaccination programme is a real beacon of hope” – and advised “everyone to take a moment today to reflect on how far we have come over the past year”.

But he went on to add that many doctors “are now exhausted and there is no doubt that many doctors need time now to rest both physically and emotionally”.

He said: “We have also seen that in the long term our health service needs more; more resources and more staff so we can expand, address the backlog and be ready for the huge surge in need we are now facing.”

Looking back on Covid-19’s arrival:

February 2020: It is a matter of when, not if, coronavirus appears in NI: officials

March 2020: Half the Northern Irish population getting Covid-19 ‘is not a wild guess’ says viral expert doctor

December 2020: Counting cost of Covid curbs: 30,000 NI job losses by end of 2020 predicts top economist

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