The bereaved family of a doctor who passed away after contracting coronavirus say he died because of a lack of protective equipment.

Consultant Dr Peter Tun, 62, passed away on Monday, April 13 at Royal Berkshire Hospital's intensive care unit.

Posting on Twitter his son Michael Tun said his father would have wanted him to speak up if he thought it would save lives.

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He said his dad had complained to a manager because they took away PPE from his ward to take it somewhere else.

A spokesman for Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust said the trust had followed strict national guidelines on the correct and appropriate use of PPE.

Mr Tun, who had described his dad as a "superhero", tweeted: "My dad Dr Peter Tun died from COVID19 because of the lack of PPE. My hope in writing this is that it will save more doctors and nurses lives and avoid pain for their families.

"The day he found out there was a positive for Covid-19 in his ward, dad told me that he had earlier complained to a manager because they took PPE away from his ward to take somewhere else.

"He was told that if there was a case, they would bring it back. He replied it would be too late.

"The last he told me, there were four more positive patients with no symptoms. Two weeks later, my dad passed away and I couldn’t do anything."

An associate specialist in neuro-rehabilitation at Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, father-of-two Dr Tun also worked as a consultant at Circle Hospital, Reading.

Tributes flooded social media after it was announced on Wednesday that he had passed away.

You can read them here.

Mr Tun's son added: "Please do everything to protect the doctors and nurses. They go in scared and for their families.

"They did not get into the profession to die a hero in battle. This is why he was a superhero to us. He was scared and still went in to help strangers completely knowing the risk.

"He was afraid he would give this to my mum and now she is in hospital also waiting for her test results.

"The thought that if only he had a proper protective mask, he might still have been able to enjoy his hard earned retirement after a lifetime of service just kills me.

"I hope this won’t cause distress or take attention away from the need to help people but we need to also protect the people trying to protect us.

"We couldn’t protect my dad so I want to help protect everyone else who is in the same position that he was. Thank you for everything to all the heroes."

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust confirmed Mr Tun's passing away on its website on Wednesday afternoon.

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A  spokesperson said for the trust said: “Everyone in the Trust has been deeply saddened by the death of Dr Peter Tun.

"Our priority has always been to keep our staff safe and properly protected and we follow the strict national guidelines on the correct and appropriate use of PPE.

"We carry out thorough training with staff so they know when and where to use the kit and our managers and Matrons make regular checks on the wards to make sure staff are properly kitted out for the duties they are performing.

"We will continue to work with Peter’s family regarding the circumstances of his death.”