Indian-origin Miss England returns to NHS as junior doctor

Indian-origin Bhasha Mukherjee, the reigning Miss England, has returned to the National Health Service (NHS) as a junior doctor, saying it was "natural" that she continued her job during the coronavirus pandemic, it was reported on Thursday.

Respiratory specialist Mukherjee, 24, was back home after her trip to India, where she'd been carrying out charity work and was due to start back at Boston Pilgrim Hospital, Lincolnshire next week.

"I could not be prouder to be both Miss England and to serve something of great national pride like the NHS," Bhasha tells the BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat.

She was in India as part of a humanitarian trip across Asia and was due to travel to countries including Pakistan.

After seeing the unfolding crisis in the UK, she wanted to "share the load".

"I felt unfair getting dressed up in a place of safety while my colleagues were laying their lives on the frontline," she said.

The NHS is adapting to rising coronavirus cases in the UK through staff redeployment and asking recently retired doctors and nurses to come back to work.

Currently, the beauty queen was sorting out the logistical issues of her return to work, including things like what shifts she would be be doing and where she would be living.

She's currently self-isolating in her home city of Derby, which is around 80 miles from the hospital.

Mukherjee also knows the health risks of returning to the wards but is not worried about contracting the disease in the hospital.

"I could have caught it anytime or anywhere. I could have picked it up at any airport or while I was in India" she told the BBC.

"My main concern is the pressure our NHS is under."

Bhasha was crowned Miss England in August 2019, shortly after gaining two medical degrees from the University of Nottingham.

She'd spent time training as a junior doctor on a respiratory ward, at the same time as modelling and taking part in pageants.