• Ajay M Verma, Andrew F Goddard, Donal O'Donoghue, Nina Newbery, Christopher Phillips, and Nigel Trudgill.
• Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Kettering, UK and chair of the New Consultants Committee, Royal College of Physicians, London, UK ajay.verma@nhs.net.
• Clin Med (Lond). 2021 Mar 1; 21 (2): e161e165e161-e165.

Introduction21% of NHS staff are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds yet account for a disproportionately high number of medical-staff deaths from COVID-19. Using data from the published OpenSAFELY Collaborative, we analysed consultant physicians to determine those at increased risk of COVID-19 related death.MethodsData from 13,500 consultant physicians collected by the Royal College of Physicians were analysed to determine those at an increased risk of death from COVID-19, assuming no comorbidities.ResultsThe data reveal a picture in which a third of consultant physicians have a hazard ratio (HR) >1 for dying from COVID-19; one in five have HR >2; one in 11, HR >3; and one in 40, HR >4. Of concern are the risks to male physicians aged ≥60 with HR >3.8. Sub-specialties including cardiology, endocrine and diabetes, gastroenterology, haematology, neurology and rheumatology have a greater risk profile due to high proportion of men, physicians of older age, and proportion of BAME individuals.ConclusionA third of consultant physicians have an increased risk of a COVID-19-related death, and one in five have a higher relative risk (HR >2). The risk is mainly driven by age, gender, and ethnicity, the risk is highest in male consultant physicians over 60, especially from BAME backgrounds.© Royal College of Physicians 2021. All rights reserved.

23 keywords...

hide…