Jitendra Rathod, a leading Indian cardiac surgeon who was based in Wales, has died after testing positive from coronavirus in the very hospital where he had saved many lives over the years.
Rathod, who was 58, was admitted to the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, before being taken into intensive care.
However, despite the best efforts of his colleagues, Rathod died on Monday morning.
His death was announced by the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board in a statement on Monday evening: “It is with profound sadness that we must inform you that Mr Jitendra Rathod, associate specialist in cardiothoracic surgery, has passed away.
“He died early this morning on our general intensive care unit after testing positive for Covid-19. Jitu had worked in the Department of Cardio-thoracic Surgery since the mid-1990s and came back to UHW in 2006 after a brief stint abroad.
“He was an incredibly dedicated surgeon who cared deeply for his patients. He was well-liked and greatly resected by one and all. He was very compassionate and a wonderful human being. His commitment to the speciality was exemplary. He is survived by his wife and two sons. We will miss him greatly.”
Jitendrakumar Maganlal Rathod came to the UK after getting his MBBS from Bombay University. His death illustrates how Indian origin doctors are fighting on the frontline in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic, according to Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the chairman of the British Medical Association.
He said: “The BMA council represents doctors across the UK working in all specialties. Up to 40 per cent of doctors in the UK are of BAME (Black Asian and Minority Ethnic) origin – the first four doctors who died with Covid-19 were all of BAME origin. The Asian proportion (of doctors in the UK) is about 30 per cent.”
Among Asians, the majority are Indian, he said.
Nagpaul went on: “We knew before the virus outbreak that the NHS simply would not function without the contribution of our Asian doctors. They have been integral to the survival of the NHS as a public service. What this has highlighted now is what a debt of gratitude we owe to our international medical workforce and specifically the Asian medical workforce.
“In fact, with the deaths of these doctors of Asian background, the NHS must recognise how invaluable it is that we have got a workforce made up of Asian doctors. We would not be able to cope with this crisis without that workforce.”
Nagpaul said he had just written to the home secretary Priti Patel urging her to waive the health charges levied on Indian and other international doctors currently working in the UK.
“With a health surcharge and visa charge you are talking of £5,000 to £7,000 for a family of four,” he pointed out. “They are paying to use the health service where they are themselves contributing a service. That seems a punishment.”
Nagpaul also revealed that the death rate from the virus is disproportionately high in the Indian community because of underlying health issues such Type 2 diabetes and heart and kidney disease. Also government messages on social distancing are not getting through to some Indians who live in large extended families.
Nagpaul, who still works as a general practitioner two evenings a week at his surgery in Harrow, north London, said: “When they do go into hospital the ability to fight the infection and the likelihood of the infection becoming more serious and risking death is greater if you have those underlying conditions.
“In our own practice we had one case recently where the mother and the son both died. These are Gujarati families. It’s tragic. The son was around 60, the mother about 80 odd. What really upsets me is we are getting notifications every day of deaths from Northwick Park Hospital (in Harrow) — and I would say almost all of them are Indian families or individuals. It is the hospital with the highest number of Covid-19 cases.”
