Ireland's PM Varadkar re-registers as doctor to help fight COVID-19

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar worked as a doctor for seven years. /Ludovic Marin/AFP Pool/AP

Ireland's prime minister, Leo Varadkar,has re-enrolled as a medical practitioner in a bid to help the country's beleaguered health service tackle the COVID-19 threat.

Varadkar worked as a doctor for seven years before switching to politics and had his name struck off the medical register in 2013.

He was a junior doctor at the St James's and Connolly hospitals in Dublin.

The 41-year-old rejoined in March and offered his services to the Health Service Executive (HSE) for one session a week in areas that are within his scope of practice, a spokesman for the taoiseach's office said on Monday.

Varadkar reportedly spent Sunday providing medical advice to concerned members of the public over the phone.

"Many of his family and friends are working in the health service. He wanted to help out even in a small way," the spokesman added.

Varadkar's partner Matthew Barrett is a surgeon at a hospital in the Irish capital.

The prime minister's father and mother, a doctor from India and a nurse from Ireland, worked for the UK's National Health Service (NHS).

Ireland has reported nearly 5,000 cases and 158 deaths due to the pandemic.

The country's health minister, Simon Harris, launched a recruitment campaign last month on behalf of the HSE with an appeal: "Your country needs you."

The health service received more than 70,000 responses for its "Be on call for Ireland" initiative and has also reached out to thousands of medical professionals who may be eligible to rejoin duty.

Source(s): Reuters