Boris Johnson was confronted by a distressed father of a sick seven-day-old at a hospital in England, who claimed that the National Health Service (NHS) “is being destroyed”, on Wednesday.
The incident occurred at a Whipps Cross Hospital in east London when Omar Salem, the father of the sick child, confronted the Prime Minister of the UK about health facilities and alleged that Johnson simply visited the hospital for a “press opportunity”.
The new father claimed that his infant daughter had been neglected at the medical facility.
In a video clip of the encounter circulating online, Salem said: “There are not enough doctors, there are not enough nurses. The NHS is being destroyed, and now you come here for a press opportunity.”
To which Johnson replied, "there's no press here" but Salem pointed at cameras filming the exchange and said: "What do you mean there's no press here? Who are these people?"
Johnson then said that he was “here to find out” about the situation, to which, Salem replied: “It's a bit late, isn't it? Years and years and years of the NHS being destroyed."
Salem is a labour activist who describes himself as a “labour activist campaigning against Brexit and for a socialist Europe…” on his Twitter account.
‘Not an embarrassment’
Following the incident, the premier tweeted about it and wrote that the encounter was not "an embarrassment" but "part of my job".
“I’ve been PM for 57 days, part of my job is to talk to people on the ground and listen to what they tell me about the big problems. It doesn’t matter if they agree with me. I’m glad this gentleman told me his problems. This isn’t an embarrassment this is part of my job,” Johnson’s, @BorisJohnson, full tweet read.
Salem, @OmarSalem, also took to Twitter and wrote: “...Boris Johnson has been an MP, @MayorofLondon, Cabinet Minister and now PM while the NHS has been neglected, just as my daughter was last night. Rather than drips of money for press opportunities he should get on with properly supporting the NHS...”
