Nurses on front line ‘must get time to recover’

NURSES ON the front line in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic must be given time to recover as they deal with unprecedented numbers of patients, one of the nation’s most senior health figures has warned.

Dame Donna Kinnair, the chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said all the evidence showed the NHS was in for a “prolonged” period of dealing with very sick patients and it was vital to protect frontline staff.

She called for testing of NHS workers as a priority plus further assurances over the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) to stop nurses falling sick.

She said: “We have heard numerous reports of nurses going out without proper protection. When they are going into homes with Covid-19, some are using bin bags instead of an apron.

“That’s why I wrote to the Prime Minister because although they (Ministers) are apparently getting reassurance from delivery companies, that’s not what we’ve been hearing on the front line.”

Dame Donna said some hospital staff had texted her overnight and said they had some supplies of PPE.

“But clearly it’s not enough, we have nursing homes and so on,” she said. “It’s a mammoth task to get to every nursing home and care home, everywhere needs a supply of protective equipment.”

Dame Donna said it was important that staff who are working round the clock are given adequate chance to rest.

“There is a need to ensure people are taking annual leave appropriately,” she said. “The temptation

Dame Donna Kinnair, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing. is ‘all hands to the wheel and we’ll get through this’ but this is not going to be two weeks.

“If we look at Wuhan and Italy, it’s going to be prolonged. We know frontline workers become more vulnerable if they don’t get adequate rest, adequate hydration and nutrition. We would be advocating for all our staff to get these things.

“Just as testing has to be priority, looking after workers is important.

“Nurses are working round the clock treating patients and it’s important for issues such as fatigue and hydration to be addressed.”

Dame Donna acknowledged that nurses will be caring for more patients than normal, including specialist nurses working in intensive care.

She said “Depending on how many people are infected, even if we suppress the curve, we know there are going to be an unprecedented number of people who are sick and requiring ventilation.”

NHS England said on Monday that millions more items of PPE had been delivered over the last few days to hospitals, ambulance trusts and care homes among others.

It added that the Army would “play its part” from this week, offering personnel to “help to manage and offload supplies in busy NHS settings” and distributing PPE supplies to the front line.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has admitted there have been “challenges” in bringing in PPE, but stressed he was committed to ensuring supplies were delivered as soon as possible.

Just as testing has to be priority, looking after workers is important.