Tweets allude to alleged lack of cleanliness at Queen Mary accommodation for NHS worker

A Twitter user has alleged the poor state of the accommodation provided to her mother, an NHS worker, by Queen Mary, University of London and claimed that her mother was told to “either stay in […the] accommodation or get sacked”.

Many key workers have had to move away from their families during the COVID-19 crisis in order to protect them from infection. Some have been offered free accommodation at hotels or as with the case of one twitter user’s mother, university accommodation. The twitter user, @jordshunt_, revealed that the NHS had payed Queen Mary for the accommodation. In a linked tweet she alleged that the room had not been cleaned, the duvet and mattress were stained and the shower room was full of mould and smelt of damp.

Many have responded to the claims of substandard conditions the Queen Mary accommodation with anger. Queen Mary’s Labour Society called the situation “disgraceful”, with many other users providing similar responses.

Another Twitter user, @sunnluu, who was living in Queen Mary accommodation as a student, in reply, alleged that staff refused to clean kitchen weeks before they left and cut electricity and water supply to encourage them to leave sooner. The user further claimed that she was evicted from her flat in order to give it to NHS workers, which she was “more than happy” to do but was disappointed that key workers were facing similar treatment to what she had faced.

A spokesperson for Queen Mary when asked on this specific matter said:

“Queen Mary University of London is supporting the government and health service during the coronavirus crisis by offering our research expertise, equipment and facilities wherever possible. This includes making our accommodation available to NHS staff to enable them to carry on working in our community during the crisis.

Rooms were cleaned thoroughly before they were offered to NHS staff and when issues were reported to our facilities team they were quickly addressed.”

Originally published in The Print, 06.05.2020