Heroic staff get PPE just in time -- thanks to you!
Vital new delivery by Mail Force charity
THE SITUATION had been growing more and more desperate as the week went on.
Stocks of essential protective equipment were running so low that they had been due to run out this very morning– with no prospect of resupply before June.
Here at this typical, well-run care home, the staff were becoming increasingly fearful that, after three clear weeks without a single further Covid-19 case or any signs of symptoms, the coronavirus might be about to creep back through the door of Shedfield Lodge.
And then a knight in slightly mud-spattered armour came riding to the rescue in the form of a silver Mail Force delivery van, carrying thousands of protective masks and dozens of all-in-one coveralls. Cue a hearty round of applause for a somewhat bashful van driver – and for Mail Force.
As Shedfield boss, Andrew Geach, put it: ‘You are a guardian angel.’
It is only a few days since Mail Force – a brand new charity – was created by the Daily Mail and its partners with the sole purpose of getting personal protective equipment (PPE) to our healthcare professionals on the Covid-19 front line. The charity’s first act was to charter a Boeing 787 Dreamliner to bring £1 million of PPE from Shanghai to the UK. In next to no time, the famously generous readers of the Mail and The Mail on Sunday were joining in with several well-known philanthropists to create a Mail Force fighting fund of several million pounds.
The cabin of the long-haul airliner was an eerie sight as our skeleton crew strapped boxes of masks in to every seat while the baggage handlers stuffed the hold with pallets. Just 24 hours after touchdown, the first few batches had gone through the NHS distribution system and I was lucky enough to see some of them reaching doctors, nurses and paramedics. A day later, further supplies were heading for the oftneglected care sector and places just like Shedfield Lodge, a specialist home for dementia patients in Hampshire. The next day, we watched some of Mail Force’s cargo being welcomed with open arms by the hospice movement.
Now, we do not for a moment pretend that this one 20-ton cargo is going to fill the crater-sized hole in Britain’s PPE supply lines. As one carping critic of the Mail Force campaign sneered yesterday, it is like feeding a donkey an oat. But only up to a point. Because we have no intention of stopping here. We are currently lining up fresh supplies from a variety of international sources, while also exploring British-made options.
There are hurdles at both ends. The whole world i s currently engaged in a frantic shopping spree for PPE, including some of our closest friends and neighbours. That is the principal reason why supplies are dwindling.
Finding the right kit at a reasonable price (and prices are going up all the time) is a major challenge. Nor does the charity want to find itself bidding against the Department of Health for the same equipment. They already have their own supply chains and are buying on a monumental scale. It is Mail Force’s task to find new sources of PPE and to make sure it meets the specifications laid down by the Department of Health for use in the NHS. All prospective purchases are crosschecked against the Whitehall database. Then, when they arrive, they must undergo rigorous inspections on the ground, especially if they are from a new source.
The top priorities are fluid-resistant isolation gowns – for dealing with confirmed Covid-19 infections – and surgical masks. Given that gowns are the global must-have item of the moment, coveralls have now been officially sanctioned as a safe alternative. According to front line medics, the main difference is that coveralls take longer to remove.
There are several reasons to question what Mail Force is doing. Why should a charity be doing the Government’s job for it? Why is this PPE going to A and not to B? Why bother if you can’t solve the problem? All valid questions in normal times, except for the fact that this is an urgent, one-off crisis, the lives of carers are on the line and we do not have the luxury of time. We all need to help the NHS right this minute. We can hardly turn round a global shortage but, collectively and cumulatively, the British public can make a difference to those looking after our most vulnerable.
At the same time, supporters of the charity are sending a powerful message to those at the sharp end of this crisis: the public genuinely mean it when they stand in the road bashing their saucepans on a Thursday night. With one mission behind it, Mail Force is already plotting more airlifts while also lining up truckloads of PPE closer to home.
The charity would not be doing this if everyone – from the top of the NHS to the poor bloody infantry in our hospitals and care homes – was not saying how urgently it is needed. There isn’t a minute to lose.