Minute's applause at hospital for Doncaster doctor who died from coronavirus

Scores of nurses, doctors, paramedics and other healthcare workers stood outside the front of Doncaster Royal Infirmary to clap for Medhat Atalla yesterday.

The consultant geriatrician, who died last week, moved to Britain from Egypt about 20 years ago and his colleagues said he cared for elderly people on three continents, including across the north of England.

In a statement last week, Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals medical director Tim Noble and chief executive Richard Parker described him as "a very special human being who practised medicine across three continents throughout his career, affecting the lives of so many in such a positive way".

"Dr Atalla became a full-time member of our Trust in 2014, when he was appointed as a Consultant Geriatrician on our Gresley Unit. We were fortunate to have worked with him for many years prior since his arrival in the United Kingdom in the early 2000s, when he cared for many elderly patients in hospitals throughout the North of England.

They said: "He was a truly gentle gentleman and he will be hugely missed by us all."

"As a Trust, we share our deepest sympathies with Dr Atalla’s brother and sister, and loved ones in Egypt.”

The tribute to Dr Atalla included a musical rendition of Somewhere Over The Rainbow and came ahead of today’s minute’s silence for NHS workers lost to coronavirus.