With no hand gel or masks I had to quit

A NURSE on the coronavirus front line said she quit after her hospital failed to provide adequate PPE, leaving her too scared to work.

Laura Demmen – who has a son aged five – revealed that she walked out after weeks working without hand gel, a face mask or gloves as the pandemic gathered pace.

She said when

Covid-19 patients were first moved to intensive care, which shared a door with Laura’s ward, there was still no hand gel by her ward’s beds, or face masks for staff.

Laura, 33, who worked with cancer patients, said: “Every bed had no sanitiser and my manager said it’s because the housekeeper’s off work and there’s a shortage.

“But how are staff supposed to work with multiple patients if they can’t wash their hands in between?” Laura, who walked out on her job at Croydon University Hospital in South London on March 15, said nurses were washing their hands in a kitchen during their shifts.

She officially resigned on April 27. She said: “I’m not the only nurse who feels they are being put in this awful position. We are expected to save people’s lives and that’s our number one priority, but the lack of equipment means we are putting our own life and the life of our families on the line. “I’m a single mother. If I become ill with this, who’s going to be there for my son?”

Laura, of Croydon, had been a nurse for 10 years. She said she was now looking for temporary work to help pay the bills.

Croydon University Hospital was approached for comment.