NHS Staff Forced To Buy PPE At DIY Stores As Government Shame Continues

NHS staff said they were forced to buy a protection kit at DIY stores as the supply scandal embarrassing the government deepens.

Data from a tracking app developed to assess frontline shortages in the war with Covid-19 showed that only 52% of doctors performing high-risk procedures had the correct long-sleeved gowns.

And 38% of respondents to the NHSppe app, created by the Association of UK Doctors, had no eye protection.

The latest heartbreaking update came after Mirror launched its Protect Us campaign, demanding that all NHS personnel, caregivers, and key workers receive PPE.

Dr. Jenny Vaughan, DAUK Policy Leader, said: “Three weeks after writing to the Prime Minister about the lack of PPE, front-line doctors from the NHS still report shortages.

“Doctors, nurses, and health care personnel are concerned about their own safety, that of patients and their own families.”

A doctor told DAUK: “Many wards have a single mask and visor and we have to share them.”

Another added: “There are no gowns available for staff dealing with Covid-positive patients. The hospital says that they will not provide scrubs and that we should take our infected clothing home and wash it. I have vulnerable relatives at home. “

And a partner in a general practice practice said, “All of my GPs bought PPE from DIY stores as our stock ran out weeks ago.”

It occurred when a critical care doctor who urged adequate provision of PPE told Sky News that half of the beds in his unit were occupied by health workers on a night shift.

Dr. Alan Courtney said: “The most difficult day I had was realizing that half of its rooms are full of health professionals.

“We get the cream from the crop in critical care when it comes to PPE, but this is a big problem that we must solve. I don’t know what’s more tragic, the doctors who came out of retirement and died or the younger ones who died and left young children behind.

“This is all very heartbreaking. I hope everyone now begins to take this seriously. ”

NHS staff have also contacted the GMB union with disturbing reports on how the EPP is rationed. A hospital worker said: “We have thin plastic aprons that easily tear apart and completely burst. Facial masks are not suitable for their purpose. “

Another said, “I have not received eye protection, masks, and a robe and I am exposed.”

GMB chief Tim Roache said: “We are proud to stand firm with the Mirror by demanding immediate action to bring PPE to the front line.” The stories are heartbreaking. “

Political heavyweights and television stars echoed his call when they backed our campaign yesterday. Tweeting a photo of our powerful cover, Labor leader Keir Starmer said: “The faces of those who gave their lives to keep us safe. The government must provide the equipment they desperately need. ”

Lib Dem interim leader Sir Ed Davey said: “The lack of protective equipment is turning into a national scandal.”

And Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan ambushed Secretary of Labor and Pensions Therese Coffey with a copy of the Mirror live on television.

Later she said, “How could she not know how many NHS workers have died? Today was the entire cover of the Mirror ”.

At least 40 health and welfare workers have died so far after hiring Covid-19. A nurse with five children was among the three NHS staff members whose deaths emerged yesterday.

Josiane Zauma Ebonja Ekoli, 55, of Leeds, worked at Harrogate Hospital. Daughter Naomie said, “It meant being a nurse, she has been doing it for over 30 years.”

Leilani Medel, who worked as an agency nurse in South Wales, was described as a “wonderful and caring person” by “heartbroken” colleagues.

Mrs. Medel, from Bridgend, had worked in hospitals in the Cwm Taf Morg-annwg University Hospital Board area.

Amarante Dias, a staff member at Weston General Hospital, Somerset, was described as a “valuable and much-loved colleague.”

As the battle continued, NHS leaders thanked councils, law enforcement, dentists, veterinarians, and water companies for “entering the gap” and offering PPE. And a group of doctors emerged who have established Med Supply Drive UK non-profit to eliminate the shortage of PPE.

Warning tonight of a dangerous lack of clothing, NHS Providers Deputy Chief Executive Saffron Cordery said: “Some trusts continue to report very low levels.”

And homecare providers warned that prioritizing the NHS shortage has made it difficult for staff to access the PPE.

Nadra Ahmed, President of the National Health Care Association, said: “My mail bag is filled every day with members asking us where they can get PPE. If the welfare sector fails, the problem will be much bigger for the government. “The government has also removed VAT from the essential kit for the NHS but not for social care.

Unison Secretary General Dave Prentis said: “No welfare employer should pay VAT for what has clearly become an essential piece of equipment.”

No10 tonight insisted that 22 million items were delivered to 268 organizations across the NHS on Easter Monday, including more than 2.5 million aprons.

The prime minister’s spokesman said: “We have always recognized that there have been some problems in terms of distribution, but where that happened, we have worked very hard to resolve them.”

Meanwhile, one researcher claimed that the EPP crisis is the “Dunkirk of the 21st century”.

Oxford University professor Trisha Greenhalgh leads research reviews on PPE.

Referring to the evacuation of Allied soldiers in World War II, he said: “As Covid-19 deaths increase, the main story about PPE has become a lack of it.

“Primary and secondary care are running out on several items. Some members of the National Health Service staff say they have been told to buy their own.

“The media is full of stories of 3D-printed viewers on garden sheds, masks sewn on kitchen sewing machines, and small construction companies donating mask boxes destined for construction sites.

“Keeping the NHS in PPE has become 21st century Dunkerque.”

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