No10 sends millions of gowns, gloves and masks to NHS workers
Minister says no doctor or nurse should be expected to work close to patients without proper protection
DOCTORS and nurses should not have to treat coronavirus patients without adequate protection, a Cabinet minister said last night, as he promised much more equipment for front-line staff.
Robert Jenrick said about 170million masks, nearly 43 million pairs of gloves and 182,000 gowns were among equipment being delivered to NHS trusts, GP surgeries and care homes.
After weeks of criticism over shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government said at the daily Downing Street press conference: “We simply cannot and should not ask people to be on the front line without the right protective equipment.”
It emerged that following reported staff revolts, hospitals were defying “weak” government guidance and imposing full PPE measures around coronavirus patients. At least three major NHS trusts took matters into their own hands after health chiefs repeatedly defended official guidelines.
Public Health England (PHE) rules currently mandate full PPE, including eye visors and long-sleeve aprons, during only a limited number of procedures where the virus is most likely to be aerosolised, such as putting patients on to ventilators. Doctors and nurses complained the guidance was less stringent than that issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO), reducing them to “cannon fodder”.
They also said treating Covid-19 patients in basic scrubs risked spreading it around the hospital and possibly infecting people as they travelled home.
PHE is currently undertaking an emergency review, which sources have told The Daily Telegraph will tighten the rules moving from a “procedurebased” approach to a “place-based” regime.
But, in the face of growing staff unease, several hospital bosses were unwilling to wait.
According to the Health Service Journal (HSJ), guidance issued last week by University Hospitals of Leicester stated: “Whenever you enter a clinical area you should wear a face mask.”
Nearby, Northampton General Hospital reportedly followed suit, adopting a broad PPE recommendation. A source told the publication: “The two trusts have effectively been held to ransom by the medical staff… who have been refusing to see patients because they don’t feel safe/agree with [Public Health England] guidance.”
Meanwhile, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust emailed staff on Friday, telling them to wear PPE for “all patient-facing encounters, irrespective of Covid-19 status, which involve being less than 2 metres distance from a patient”.
“This also includes any staff working in a clinical area within 2 metres of a patient, such as food services and cleaning teams.”
The Government has repeatedly said that the NHS has enough PPE and that any shortages are as a result of logistical problems.
However, a consultant at Cambridge University Hospitals, who warned of “growing unease” among junior doctors at the situation, said: “The Government are treating us like morons. It’s clear they downgraded the guidance to mask the fact that there isn’t enough PPE.”
Last night, Mr Jenrick said equipment had been dispatched and “delivered to 58,000 NHS trusts and healthcare settings, including GP surgeries, pharmacies and community providers”.
He added: “Every single GP practice, dental practice and community pharmacy has had a PPE delivery. All care homes, hospices, and home care providers have, or will shortly receive, a delivery.”
In a recent HSJ survey, chief executives named PPE as one of their top concerns. One health chief said he had faced “a near revolt among my clinical staff about the national guidance on use of surgical masks for non-aerosol generating work”.
Prof Yvonne Doyle, the director of health protection for PHE, said: “We are carefully considering the comprehensive feedback we have received from health professionals and we aim to publish the updated guidance, in line with WHO recommendations and including summary aspects for primary care and community settings, very shortly.”