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Medical workers are seen in a new testing center as the spread of the coronavirus continues, Rochdale, Great Britain, April 16, 2020. / Reuters
Medical workers are seen in a new testing center as the spread of the coronavirus continues, Rochdale, Great Britain, April 16, 2020. / Reuters
Britain needs to do more to bring personal protective equipment (PPE) to frontline health workers, Housing Minister Robert Jenrick said on Saturday amid mounting criticism of a shortage in hospitals treating patients with COVID-19.
“We have to do more to bring the PPE that people need to the front line,” Jenrick said, adding that a shipment was to arrive from Turkey on Sunday with equipment, including 400,000 protective clothing.
“We are trying to do everything we can to get the equipment we need,” he said during the televised briefing on Saturday.
The comment came after the government issued a new guide for hospitals, advising medical workers to reuse gowns or use different PPE kits if stocks in England ran out on Friday.
“This guide is a new admission to the dire situation that some doctors and healthcare workers continue to find themselves in due to government failure,” said Rob Harwood, chairman of the consultative committee of the British Medical Association.
“If it is proposed that staff reuse equipment, this must be demonstrably driven by science and best evidence, rather than availability.”
A spokesman for the Health Department said the guide was to ensure that staff knew what to do to minimize risk if shortages occurred, and that the rules were kept in line with international standards.
People wearing protective masks are seen on the streets of Liverpool as the spread of the coronavirus continues, Liverpool, Great Britain, April 18, 2020. / Reuters
People wearing protective masks are seen on the streets of Liverpool as the spread of the coronavirus continues, Liverpool, Great Britain, April 18, 2020. / Reuters
Unison, the UK’s largest union, said it had told its members that they could legally refuse to work to avoid the risk of injury, and described the situation on PPE as a “national scandal”.
The Royal College of Nursing said it had written “in the strongest terms” to express concern over the rule change.
NHS Providers, a body representing hospitals and other parts of Britain’s publicly funded National Health Service, said supply levels of gowns were critical.
“It is now clear that some trusts will run out of fluid repellent gowns this weekend,” said Executive Vice President Saffron Cordery.
Britain is at the peak of a health crisis in which more than 15,000 people died, the fifth highest number of national deaths from a pandemic related to at least 150,000 deaths worldwide.
Data released on Saturday showed that 15,464 people died in British hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus, an increase of 888 in the 24 hours.
(With contributions from agencies)
