Ex-medics and students could all be among those brought on-board to help the fight (Image: Getty Images)
Mr Hancock said it would be a “call to action – if you are a doctor and a nurse and you receive a letter, we really need to to come back to the NHS, to serve your NHS in what is going to be a critical time. “
Duties could include fitting ventilators, he said.
He said those who’ve only recently left can rejoin instantly but others may need “a bit of a refresher”. Training will happen over the next couple of weeks and people will be allocated to a hospital near them, he said.
He added that returning ex-staff “can play a crucial role in maximising our capacity to fight this outbreak “.
The fresh plea comes after ex-NHS medics who have left within three years were asked to re- register, while final-year medical students and student nurses could also be drafted in to help strengthen the effort.
Ruth May, chief nursing officer for England, said the “expertise and experience” of recent former nurses would be crucial in saving lives.
Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for the NHS, said anyone returning “will make more of a difference than ever before. “
Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Image: Getty Images) Meanwhile, NHS chiefs have dispatched lorry-loads of protective kit to address complaints the gear is not going to NHS staff.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the service has now dipped into a stockpile held in a warehouse.
He said 409 lorries took masks and other kit overnight from the warehouse to (hospitals.
) He told BBC Breakfast: “That’s about half the hospitals in the country – the rest will get their lorry load by the end of the weekend.”
Britain has been warned by Italy it could lose control if it doesn’t learn from the ‘apocalypse’ there (Image: Sky News) With England’s top nurse and top doctor’s backing, The Nursing and Midwifery Council is to reach out to , (eligible former NHS nurses and the General Medical Council will write to , 695 doctors.
The new campaign comes in light of Mr Hancock’s promise to accelerate protective personal equipment to the frontline in response to concerns staff were at risk through a lack of available resources.
Mr Hancock said 2.6 million masks and 50, bottles of hand sanitiser had been sent out to units in the last hours. Read More
Speaking on Thursday’s behind closed doors episode of Question Time he assured hospitals will get the next pack of equipment during the night and all will have them by Sunday night.
While social care providers will get packages next week.
In the early hours of Friday, meanwhile, the Government released a list of key workers in England, including those in health and social care, whose children can remain in school after they close for potentially months.
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