Coronavirus: Who are the NHS nurses praised by Boris Johnson for ‘standing by my bedside for 48 hours’?

Jenny McGee, from New Zealand, and Luis Pitarma, from Portugal, receive recognition from home country leaders

A nurse who was personally thanked and praised by Boris Johnson for caring for him while he was in intensive care has been “blown away” by the recognition, her brother said.

Jenny McGee, from New Zealand, works in the intensive care department at St Thomas’ Hospital in central London where the prime minister was being cared for.

Her brother, Rob McGee, told The New Zealand Herald their family was “very proud” of Jenny, and she is “really pleased to see the public recognition for the amazing work the NHS is doing”.

Rob said: “We are all very proud of Jen, not just in the support she gave Boris – but what she has been doing helping everyday people.

“We spoke to her this morning – evening in the UK – and she was about to head off to do another night shift. She just saw it as another day and kept just saying she is just doing her job.”

“Whilst she is blown away by Boris’s recognition, she is just really pleased to see the public recognition for the amazing work the NHS is doing – that made her really proud,” he added.

Jenny McGee also received a personal message from New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, via Facebook.

Ms Ardern said on Monday she used an “informal tactic of finding [McGee] on Facebook and sending her a Facebook message”, reported the Australian Associated Press.

“We have thanked our frontline health workers in New Zealand many times and rightly so but I want to add an acknowledgement that many, many Kiwis work in healthcare around the world,” said Ms Ardern.

“They show the same commitment, same care, same work ethic that they do here. We are all very proud of them, especially you, Nurse Jenny.”

Another nurse, Luis Pitarma, was also thanked by Mr Johnson for staying by his bedside for 48 hours when “things could have gone either way”.

Mr Pitarma, a senior nurse at St Thomas’ from Portugal, was recognised by his country’s president.

A statement from Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s office said: “The president of the republic underlines the special recognition presented today by the British prime minister, Boris Johnson, to the Portuguese nurse Luis Pitarma for his work and vigilance during hospitalisation in intensive care.

“President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has already personally thanked the nurse Luis Pitarma, and also thanks the efforts of all Portuguese health professionals in Portugal and around the world providing help in the fight against the pandemic.

“A word of encouragement is also addressed to professionals of other nationalities who, reinforcing the National Health Service, provide an invaluable service to Portugal.”

According to Portuguese newspaper Expresso, Mr Pitarma moved to the UK in 2014 and worked at Luton and Dunstable University Hospital for two years before moving to St Thomas’.

Mr Johnson also named several other healthcare workers who looked after him during his three nights in intensive care, where he was given oxygen as he struggled with coronavirus.

In a video message on Easter Sunday, just hours after he was discharged from hospital, he said there was no doubt the “NHS has saved my life” and it was “hard to find words to express my debt”.

Mr Johnson’s fiancee, Carrie Symonds, also thanked the NHS after he was discharged, and said: “I will never, ever be able to repay you and I will never stop thanking you.

“There were times last week that were very dark indeed. My heart goes out to all those in similar situations, worried sick about their loved ones.”