The teenage son of a doctor who died of Covid-19 after warning Boris Johnson about a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) is still holding out for an apology from the government after personally confronting Matt Hancock, he said.

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In one of the most symbolic moments yet of the crisis, Intisar Chowdhury, 18, picked up the baton from his father and, on the radio, asked the health secretary if he regretted not taking more seriously the concerns the doctor had raised in a letter to Downing Street two weeks before his death.

His intervention led to figures from politics and beyond heaping pressure on the government to admit that it had made serious errors in relation to PPE for key workers who have died. They were commemorated on Tuesday in a one-minute silence.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, in his scrubs in Homerton hospital where he worked. Photograph: Intisar Chowhury

“I have faith there will be an apology because I do feel that it has come to a point where we need one. The government are not robots. They are humans and they will understand that,” Chowdhury told the Guardian after challenging Hancock on LBC radio. The health secretary would only go so far as to say he was really sorry about his father’s death.

“I feel that was a blanket statement, that other senior government figures have forbid an apology and that was why Matt Hancock, Priti Patel and others have not given a real apology, Chowdhury said.

“Whoever instructed that blanket statement – and I’m not sure who it was – was in the wrong for doing that because apologies are not an admission of guilt. Apologies are not going to make you liable for litigation and things like that. The purpose of them is to display honesty, integrity and build trust from the public. That is the most important aspect.”

Dr Chowdhury, a consultant urologist at Homerton hospital in east London, urged the prime minister to ensure every NHS worker was protected in an open letter last month shortly after being taken ill with Covid-19.

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In a Facebook post on 18 March, Abdul Mabud Chowdhury said: “People appreciate us and salute us for our rewarding job which are very inspirational but I would like to say we have to protect ourselves and our families/kids in this global disaster/crisis by using appropriate PPE and remedies.”

The 53-year-old died on 8 April.

On Tuesday, a grassroots lobbying and campaigning group advocating for the medical profession and wider NHS supported the call by Dr Chowdhury’s son for an official apology to the families of healthcare workers who have died.

“I think an apology would be a first step in acknowledging what the government have provided NHS workers and social care workers in terms of PPE,” said Dr Rinesh Parmar, chair of the Doctors’ Association UK. “It has been inadequate and admitting that would be the the first part in recognising that the pandemic planning had not been robust enough.”

The acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, said it was “beyond belief” that there were still workers on the frontline without the protection they needed weeks after Dr Chowdhury’s death. “The government must apologise and they must ensure that all NHS and care workers receive the protection they need, it is fundamental to the credibility of the government.”

The co-leader of the Green party, Jonathan Bartley, said: “It’s an obvious step to apologise and that should be one, but a real apology also means changing direction for everyone. An apology that is not backed up by action – whether that’s addressing the real needs of people in care homes and a whole range of neglected areas – would be pretty poor.”

Meg Hillier, the east London Labour MP whose constituency includes Homerton hospital, called on the government “to stop being defensive and act” while her fellow Labour MP, Diane Abbott, added: “It is increasingly becoming clear that this a government with blood on its hands.”

Further details also emerged of the kind of man Dr Chowdhury was, and of the heart-wrenching circumstances in which his family said goodbye as he lay unconscious in hospital. Because his 11-year-old sister had not been able to go into the room to say goodbye to their father, Chowdhury told how he had her write a message on his phone which he read on her behalf.

Paying tribute to his father, who he said had looked forward to visiting and giving his time to the charity hospital he had established in is native Bangladesh, the teenager said: “He really was a man of the people and even when he was growing ill he was putting the needs of his colleagues and everyone using the NHS first by seeking to raise the PPE issue.”

While the vast majority of reaction on social media had been positive, the teenager also said he had been reading comments on Twitter and YouTube that sought to claim he was “maintaining a political narrative”.

“I want to apologise if I come across that way. With my grief I am not perhaps as aware of how I am coming across, but I feel a lot of people are assuming I am a leftwing Labour person. In reality I am not political at all. This is a human rights crisis and I am doing what I believe is the right thing in terms of human rights.”

* Additional reporting by Mythili Rao

