Hendon GP recognised for raising £115K to relieve pressure on NHS

A GP from Hendon has been given a coveted award for creating a number of schemes to relieve pressure off the NHS during the covid crisis. .

Along with her friend Alex Adams, Dr Sharon Raymond set up the Covid Crisis Rescue Foundation and through a crowd-funding page, which has now raised over £115,000, helped source PPE for the NHS, provide lifesaving equipment and support the most vulnerable Covid patients.

Dr Raymond, who has also been shortlisted for GP of the year, said it was “very exciting” to win the Inspirational Woman Award from Inspiration Awards, adding that it was “nice to have something good happen after a lot of hard work”. She had also been nominated for the Amplifon Brave Britons Awards, which Captain Tom Moore won, but joked that she was happy to let him have that one.

The out of hours GP led a team of five mainly Jewish volunteers to purchase specialist PPE for the NHS at the start of the pandemic. The team have procured and delivered nearly 50,000 items of personal protective equipment alongside medical equipment across the UK, including to Jewish Care and Hatzola.

Dr Raymond said she wanted to highlight the work the Jewish and wider community has done through different volunteering services, adding that she “hugely appreciates their help”.

It is thanks to volunteer bikers from The Bike Shed Motorcycle Club and disaster response charity Team Rubicon UK that Dr Raymond’s foundation has distributed several hundred oximeters every week through bases at the Royal Free and Imperial hospitals. These oximeters are “vital”, Dr Raymond said, in monitoring oxygen saturation from home and getting emergency help if levels drop too low. “For me, now, the focus should be on the homeless, the isolated and the vulnerable to get the care that they need”, she told the Jewish News.

As London entered Tier 4 restrictions over the weekend, Dr Raymond told the Jewish News: “It is very important that as a community, we are a beacon of proper behaviour – if we can limit the spread of the virus, we can limit the harm.” The Jewish community need to make sure we are the best we can be in adhering to the rules. Those from every faith and no faith need to work together to protect us all.”

• You can donate to the Covid Crisis Rescue foundation at Help raise £250000 to Fund the life-saving work of the COVID CRISIS RESCUE FOUNDATION