Dr Chaand Nagpaul tells No 10 there is ‘real risk’ NHS staff will not be able to do their jobs as pumps run dry
No 10 is facing calls to give ambulance drivers, healthcare staff and other essential workers priority access to fuel after panic buying caused shortages across the UK.
With ministers due to meet on Monday afternoon to discuss the growing crisis, the British Medical Association (BMA) called for emergency measures to let medical staff fill up, warning that as pumps run dry “there is a real risk that NHS staff won’t be able to do their jobs”.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the chair of council at the BMA, said: “Emergency and essential workers rely on fuel both to travel to work and for their work itself – whether this is to get to hospitals, practices and other healthcare settings, or for ambulances to reach people in urgent need of care and GPs to visit very ill patients at home.