A Homerton Hospital doctor who warned the prime minister about the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) for NHS workers has died after contracting coronavirus.

Consultant urologist Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, 53, died on Wednesday night, more than two weeks after being taken to hospital on March 23.

Just five days before being admitted, Dr Chowdhury wrote a Facebook post asking Boris Johnson to urgently provide every NHS worker with PPE.

In the post on March 18, he wrote: “Remember we may be doctor/nurse/HCA/allied health workers who are in direct contact with patients but we are also human being to practice human right like others to live in this world disease free with our family and children.

“People appreciate us and salute us for our rewarding job which are very inspirational but I would like to say we have to protect ourselves and our families /kids in this global disaster/crisis by using appropriate PPE and remedies.”

Family friend doctor Golam Rahat Khan said Dr Chowdhury had been worried about coronavirus “long before” it reached the UK.

“He was telling me and other friends that coronavirus was very dangerous,” he said.

Dr Khan, 45, who has known Dr Chowdhury for nearly 20 years, described him as a “life-loving person”.

He added: “He liked singing and liked our own Bengali culture and loved English heritage.

“He was so caring, he would call us very often to come to his house.”

Dr Khan said none of Dr Chowdhury’s relatives were with him when he died at around 10.35pm at Queen’s Hospital in Romford.

Dr Chowdhury is survived by his wife and two children aged 18 and 11.

Hackney mayor Phil Glanville has also paid tribute to Dr Chowdhury. He tweeted: “A hero from @NHSHomerton who has died serving Hackney & fighting this terrible disease.

“I hope his death wasn’t as a result of continuing issues around testing & PPE, but it raises Qs. A sobering reminder of the lives being lost to keep us safe & the contribution BAME staff make.”

It comes after Anton Sebastianpillai, consultant geriatrician at Kingston Hospital in south-west London, died on Saturday, four days after being admitted to the intensive care unit.

Paying tribute, Homerton chief executive Tracey Fletcher said: “Abdul will be greatly missed by every member of the urology department, as well as by all those who knew him in outpatients, wards, theatres and management. Our thoughts are with his family at this very sad time.”

Additional reporting by PA.

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