Jenny McGee, Nurse Who Cared For Boris Johnson, Says His Staff Attempted To Coerce Her Into Clapping for Photo Op

The nurse who cared for United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson when he was hospitalized with COVID-19 has resigned. Jenny McGee, the lead intensive care nurse assigned to Johnson, said in a new documentary that a "lack of respect" shown by the government for the country's National Health Service (NHS) and healthcare workers led to her decision.

According to The Guardian, McGee spoke of one particular incident in which she was asked to take part in a "clap for carers" photo. "It would have been a really good photo opportunity. You know, kind of like Boris and his NHS friends, but I wanted to stay out of it. Lots of nurses felt that the government hadn't led very effectively, the indecisiveness, so many mixed messages. It was just very upsetting."

McGee, who stayed by Johnson's side for two days while he was in intensive care last year, made the comments and revelation about her resignation during an interview taped for a documentary for England's Channel 4 called The Year Britain Stopped. According to The Guardian, she spoke during the documentary about the government's proposed 1% pay raise for NHS staff. She reportedly said, "We're not getting the respect and now pay that we deserve. I'm just sick of it."

Much of the country agrees with MeGee's feelings regarding the pay raise. A recent opinion poll conducted by The Observer found 72  percent of voters said they felt the proposed pay increase is too low.

The Guardian also described McGee speaking of when Johnson was brought into the intensive care unit. "All around him there was lots and lots of sick patients, some of whom were dying. I remember seeing him and thinking he looked very, very unwell. He was a different color really," she said.

On the day Johnson was discharged from the hospital, he recorded a video message for the public in which he named McGee and another nurse, Luis Pitarma. In the video, he said of the two nurses, "The reason in the end my body did start to get enough oxygen was because for every second of the night, they were watching."

He later hosted both McGee and Pitarma at 10 Downing Street in July to mark the 72nd anniversary of the NHS.

In the documentary, which premiers on May 24, McGee also reportedly spoke about the difficulties of the lockdowns and when the U.K.'s healthcare staffs were stretched thin. The Washington Post reported her saying in the documentary: "Yes, we have put ourselves on the line, and we have worked so incredibly hard, and there's a lot of talk about how we're all heroes and all that sort of stuff. But at the same time, I'm just not sure if I can do it."

The Post reported that McGee said she is relocating to the Caribbean, where she plans to continue working as a nurse.

Newsweek contacted Prime Minister Johnson for comment but has not heard back as of press time.