Health workers writing letters in case we die, nurse reveals
A WELSH nurse has said that some of her healthcare colleagues have been preparing letters to be used in case they die during the coronavirus pandemic.
Libby Nolan, a senior nurse currently assigned to an intensive treatment unit (ITU) in South Wales, wrote the startling revelation in a letter to the Guardian newspaper.
She was writing about having to work without adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), and explained they were “thinking ahead for insurance and litigation purposes” to ensure their families receive sufficient compensation.
Her comments came on a day which also saw:
■ Health Minister Vaughan Gething voice his “disappointment” at the collapse of a deal to provide an extra 5,000 Covid-19 tests per day in Wales;
■ The death toll in Wales rose to 69; and
■ 22,000 new volunteers in Wales signed up to support their local communities or the NHS.
Ms Nolan said PPE shortages remained at the end of last week, including goggles and FFP3 respirator masks, affecting staff safety, adding: “You just wouldn’t send firemen into a burning fire without apparatus, would you?”
Her comments came just days after the Echo reported how a healthcare worker at the University Hospital of Wales said she was considering quitting because of the lack of protective equipment to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.
Healthcare workers have said they need clarity from ministers about what risks they should not have to take if they do not have adequate personal protective equipment.
The British Medical Association (BMA) issued the call over concerns about PPE shortages, with leading nurses saying staff on some Covid-19 wards are caring for patients without any protective equipment.
They said that despite the assurances, many hospitals and GP practices continue to face “life-threatening shortages” of PPE.
BMA consultants committee chairman Dr Rob Harwood said: “We need clarity from the Government on what it is that healthcare staff should do and, particularly, what risks they should not have to take if they do not have adequate PPE, if they should find themselves in this situation.
“This is about the safety of patients and doctors first and foremost.
“Doctors are placing themselves at significant risk by treating patients on the front line and there are concerns that sometimes this is without adequate PPE.
“While the Government has been forthcoming in letting us know that protection is on the way, there are still doctors and other NHS staff who today, tomorrow and in the coming week, may face the daunting prospect of having to consider treating patients without adequate protection.
“Having seen the tragic deaths of medics in Italy and now closer to home here in the UK, doctors and NHS staff have every right to be concerned, knowing that a lack of adequate protection is not only dangerous, it may be fatal.”
Mr Gething and chief medical officer Dr Frank Atherton said they are distributing this safety equipment – including masks, eye protection, aprons and gloves – to primary, secondary, and social care workers as quickly as possible.
But healthcare professionals say there is a lack of clarity on how many PPEs there are currently in Wales, how many are on order, and which workers need them most.
Mr Gething also spoke yesterday of his disappointment after a deal to provide an extra 5,000 coronavirus tests per day in Wales collapsed.
He revealed there had been a written agreement for the firm, which he refused to name, to increase testing capacity in the nation.
Speaking at a press conference in Cardiff, he said there was “no getting away from the fact that those additional tests that we were due to have would have made an earlier difference for us”.
Mr Gething said the Welsh Government was working now with other private organisations, the university sector and the NHS to increase the current testing capacity.
Within two to three weeks, this should increase to 5,000 tests per day and there will be a further 4,000 tests by the end of May due to UK-wide arrangements, he said.
Doctors are placing themselves at significant risk by treating patients on the front line and there are concerns that sometimes this is without adequate PPE BMA consultants committee chairman Dr Rob Harwood
He was speaking as Public Health Wales announced that 112 new cases had tested positive for Covid-19 in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,563.
Seven deaths have been reported of people who had tested positive for the virus, taking the number of deaths in Wales to 69.
Mr Gething said: “We’re absolutely not going to name the company that were due to provide 5,000 tests for Wales, we’ve been really clear about that.
“Our objective is to get more testing available and to focus on delivering that.
“We had a clear agreement for that company’s team to come into Wales to set up the infrastructure required to provide those additional tests.
“I’ve always been clear about my disappointment that hasn’t happened.”
Mr Gething said the company had “made a decision” that they were unable to fulfil the agreement they had reached with the Welsh Government.
But he told the press conference that he wanted to focus on preparing the health and care system in Wales for the “difficult weeks ahead”.
“There’s no getting away from the fact that those additional tests that we were due to have would have made an earlier difference for us,” Mr Gething said.
Adam Price, the leader of Plaid Cymru, urged the Welsh Government to explain why the deal had collapsed and who it had been with.
He said on Twitter: “Having blamed a company for walking away from vital deal on Covid tests, I don’t understand why Welsh Govt is refusing to say who and why – and especially if actions of UK Govt effectively scuppered Welsh deal meaning thousands of healthcare staff won’t now be tested this week.”
The number of deaths and new confirmed cases of coronavirus fell in Wales in the figures announced yesterday.
A total of 112 new cases tested positive for Covid-19 in the figures, compared with an increase of 210 on Monday.
The seven deaths announced yesterday equated to half the number – 14 – announced on Monday.
Dr Giri Shankar, incident director for the novel coronavirus outbreak response at Public Health Wales, yesterday said: “It should be noted that while today’s number of cases is lower than numbers previously reported, this should not automatically be considered a trend as case numbers can be subject to daily fluctuation.”
He repeated that coronavirus is circulating in “every part of Wales” and called on people to stay at home to protect the NHS.
The total number of confirmed cases, by health board area, are: 590 in Aneurin Bevan, 86 in Betsi Cadwaladr, 375 in Cardiff and Vale, 189 in Cwm Taf, 94 in Hywel Dda, 23 in Powys and 167 in Swansea Bay.
Thirteen cases are resident outside of Wales and the areas of 26 cases are yet to be confirmed.
Meanwhile, Mr Gething also confirmed 22,000 people in Wales have now signed up to volunteer either to support their community or the NHS.
“It’s a fantastic show of the resilience and dedication by so many in such unprecedented times,” he said.
THERE are “green shoots” signs that the rate at which people are becoming infected with Covid-19 in the UK is slowing, a top NHS official has said.
Professor Stephen Powis said the next few weeks “will be critical” to see how the UK epidemic would pan out but there were signs of a plateau in the infection rate.
Prof Powis, NHS England’s medical director, said the overall signs were that the “Great British public” were heeding social distancing advice and reducing contact.
Turning specifically to the number of infections, Prof Powis told reporters at the daily Westminster press briefing: “We have had a rise in the number of new UK cases but recently there is a little bit of plateau.
“It’s really important not to read too much into this.
“It’s early days, we’re not out of the woods, we’re very much in the woods.
“The number of infections is not rising as rapidly as it once was.
“So green shoots, but only green shoots, and we must not be complacent and we must not take our foot off the pedal.”
Some 10,767 people were last night in hospital in England, with 3,915 of those in London and 1,918 in the Midlands, where hospital admissions are accelerating.
Prof Powis said the rate of hospital admissions was still increasing, as was expected at this stage of the epidemic.
However, he said that if the number of infections started to drop, then in the next few weeks the “hope” was that the number of admissions would also begin to fall.
In the last few days, around 1,000 per day have been taken into hospital with Covid-19.
It came as NHS England confirmed that a 19-year-old with no underlying health conditions had died in hospital after testing positive for Covid-19.
A total of 1,789 patients have now died overall in UK hospitals as of 5pm on Monday, the Department of Health said, up by 381 from 1,408 the day before.
In addition to Wales’ rise in deaths by seven to 69, Northern Ireland saw the death toll rise by six to 28 and Scotland by 13 to 60.
The UK jump is by far the biggest day-on-day rise in the number of deaths since the outbreak began.
Cabinet minister Michael Gove said the sharp rise in UK deaths from coronavirus was “deeply shocking” but he could not say exactly when the peak of the epidemic would come.
“There’s not a fixed date when you know that the peak will come, it depends on the actions of all of us,” he told reporters.
“We can delay that peak, we can flatten the curve through our own particular actions.”
He said despite signs that interventions were working, “now is absolutely not the time for people to imagine there can be any relaxation or slackening” of lockdown measures.
Turning to testing, Mr Gove said a “critical constraint” on the ability to rapidly increase testing capacity in the UK is the availability of chemical reagents.
He said Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock were working with companies worldwide to ensure the UK gets the material needed to increase tests “of all kind”.
The UK Government has faced serious criticism over testing, with fewer than 10,000 tests being carried out per day on average, despite claims this target had been hit.
The UK must go “further, faster” to ramp up coronavirus testing capacity, Mr Gove said.
On the issue of ventilators, Mr Gove said the UK was buying them from EU nations and had also placed orders at home.
“We have just over 8,000 ventilators deployed in NHS hospitals now,” he said.
“This number has increased since the epidemic began thanks to the hard work of NHS professionals, but we need more.
“That’s why we are buying more ventilators from abroad, including from EU nations.
“It’s also why we are developing new sources of supply at home.”
The first new ventilator devices will roll off the production line this weekend and be delivered to the NHS next week, Mr Gove said.
It comes as other figures revealed that the true death toll is higher than hospital statistics suggest.
Data from the Office for National
Statistics (ONS) for Wales and England shows there were 24% more deaths relating to Covid-19 up to and including March 20, compared to hospitalonly data for the same period.
The ONS looked at all deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned as a factor, including hospital deaths and those in the community and care homes.
A total of 210 deaths in Wales and England for the time period had Covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate, compared with 170 coronavirus-related deaths reported by NHS England and Public Health Wales.
Hospital figures are of people who have tested positive for Covid-19, whereas the ONS includes all deaths where Covid-19 is mentioned on the death certificate, even if only suspected.
However, the ONS data does provide a much wider picture of what may be happening in the community.
Earlier, Mr Johnson chaired a meeting of his Cabinet by videolink as he continues to self-isolate in Downing Street after testing positive for coronavirus.
The Prime Minister told the meeting: “The situation is going to get worse before it gets better – but it will get better.”
The UK total of coronavirus-related hospital deaths issued by the Department of Health differs from the total which can be calculated by adding together deaths announced by the NHS in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland because they compile them in different ways.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that GPs have taken to ordering protective gear from Amazon in a bid to protect staff caring for coronavirus patients.
Global shortages of the equipment medics and carers need to protect themselves against Covid-19 have led to shortfalls in the UK.
At least one GP practice has ordered face shields on Amazon in a bid to protect its staff, after being unable to get kit through the traditional supply chain, the PA news agency reported yesterday.
There has been an outcry across health and care sectors over shortages in personal protective equipment (PPE) needed to protect people working with patients on the frontline.
This is despite government assurances that millions of pieces of kit have been delivered across the country and that staff with concerns can call a national helpline.
Meanwhile, medics said they had been “gagged” over complaining to the media about PPE concerns.
And respiratory physiotherapists, who work with patients who have problems with their breathing, have been threatened with disciplinary action if they raise concerns about the shortages, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) said.
CSP chief executive Karen Middleton said: “Physiotherapy staff are playing a critical role in treating patients with Covid-19 but are facing an unacceptable risk through a lack of protection.
“These concerns have been ignored for too long by governments across the UK so we are now demanding that action is taken to protect not only our members, but the NHS as well.”
The union Unite said home-visiting health visitors and community nurses need PPE “urgently”.