A doctor who died of Covid-19 at Royal Berkshire Hospital has been awarded a posthumous fellowship by the Royal College of Physicians.

Consultant Dr Peter Tun, 62, died on Monday, April 13, at the Royal Berkshire Hospital’s intensive care unit after contracting the coronavirus.

The fellowship is a mark of achievement and skill as a doctor, recognising the fellow’s contribution to the profession.

Dr Tun is believed to be the first person been awarded a fellowship posthumously after dying in hospital.

His family have been invited to accept the accolade of RCP fellowship on his behalf at a fellowship ceremony, when these events are able to resume.

 A spokesman for the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are so proud to see Dr Peter Tun recognised with this posthumous fellowship.

“He was a hugely respected member of the Royal Berkshire team and very highly regarded, both here and more widely, in his field of expertise in neurological rehabilitation.”

The family of Dr Tun said he died because of a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) at the hospital, while the trust said it followed strict national guidelines on the correct and appropriate use of PPE.

An associate specialist in neuro-rehabilitation at Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, the father-of-two was a graduate from the University of Medicine, Yangon, Myanmar in 1981.

He started his career as a research medical officer for the World Health Organisation-sponsored ‘Risk approach in the delivery of maternal and child healthcare project’.

From 1985 to 1994 Dr Tun then worked as a GP across the villages of the Ayeyarwady Delta and was an advocate for providing education as a tool to transform the lives of the community he served.

He moved to the UK in 1994, initially living in west Yorkshire before moving to London and eventually settling in Reading in 1998. Dr Tun became a member of the RCP in 1997.

Figures from the medical profession paid tribute to Dr Hun for his years of dedicated service.