A NURSE who took care of the Prime Minister when he was hospitalised with Covid-19 has resigned from the NHS, citing the “lack of respect” the Government has for health workers.
Jenny McGee (below) looked after Boris Johnson during his time in intensive care. She says she is “sick of it” after the UK Government offered a pay rise of just 1% for NHS staff in England despite their work during the pandemic.
She also revealed to a Channel 4 documentary that following his recovery, Johnson’s staff tried to get her involved in a “clap for the NHS” photo opportunity.
"It would have been a really good photo opportunity. You know, kind of like Boris and his NHS friends, but I wanted to stay out of it," she said.
McGee’s comments will be broadcast on May 24 in the documentary The Year Britain Stopped.
The health worker also hit out at the UK Government’s handling of the pandemic, telling the programme: “Lots of nurses felt that the Government hadn’t led very effectively – the indecisiveness, so many mixed messages. It was just very upsetting.”
McGee, who was a a lead intensive care nurse at St Thomas’ in London, said in the programme: “Yes, we have put ourselves on the line and we have worked so incredibly hard, and there’s a lot of talk about how we’re all heroes and all that sort of stuff. But at the same time, I’m just not sure if I can do it. I don’t know how much more I’ve got to give to the NHS.”
On the day he left hospital, Johnson named McGee and Luis Pitarma as his nurses, saying the reason he managed to get enough oxygen was “because for every second of the night, they were watching”.
In the upcoming documentary McGee, originally from New Zealand, also discussed the situation running up to Christmas.
She said her hospital became a “cesspool of Covid”, with many more cases than during the first surge.
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“The nurses are stretched even more. An absolute shitshow to be honest. At that point, I don’t know how to describe the horrendousness of what we were going through. We were desperate,” she said.
In a statement released today McGee said: “After the toughest year of my nursing career, I’m taking a step back from the NHS but hope to return in the future. I’m excited to start a nursing contract in the Caribbean, before a holiday back home in New Zealand later in the year.
“I’m so proud to have worked at St Thomas’ hospital and to have been part of such a fantastic team.”
Pat Cullen, acting general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “There are already tens of thousands of nursing vacancies and we continue to warn of an exodus from the profession if the Government does not demonstrate its respect by giving nurses a fair pay rise for the skilled work they do.”
The SNP's shadow health secretary Dr Philippa Whitford said McGee's resignation is a "personal mark of shame for Boris Johnson" and his government.
"NHS workers have been on the frontline in tackling this pandemic and they have been working tirelessly to protect people's lives," she said. "This health crisis has highlighted the importance of our NHS staff, and that is why I am delighted that the SNP Scottish government's offer of a 4% pay rise - the biggest increase in the history of devolution - has been accepted and is being implemented.
“In stark contrast, Boris Johnson could only muster together a mere 1% pay rise for those on the frontline, yet could find billions of pounds of public money to give to Tory friends and donors.
"After clapping for carers on the doorstep, it seems as though Boris Johnson turned his back and closed the door on them."
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