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Coronavirus: NHS bosses promise nurses and doctors will get equipment they need

‘We are really short and are running out of FFP3 masks and gowns. We have been asking for more kit for over a week but keep being fobbed off’

Shaun Lintern
Health Correspondent
Wednesday 18 March 2020 14:05 GMT
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Protective equipment to keep NHS staff safe from the coronavirus infection is to be parachuted in to local areas suffering shortages, NHS bosses have promised amid concerns some areas are running out.

The head of NHS England has warned the country is going to need to increase the production of items like gowns and other vital equipment as the UK braces for months of heightened risk from the disease.

Doctors, nurses and staff in GP surgeries across the country have told The Independent their hospitals and practices are running low or have run out of face masks and protective gowns altogether, despite the government releasing its national stockpile held back for pandemics.

The issue has come as many NHS staff have also criticised the lack of frontline testing for staff to prevent them having to isolate for 14 days.

Some trusts have been sent out of date equipment that has been relabelled from 2017 to 2020 while in one hospital nurses were told to reuse their face masks. Some staff have claimed this is putting them and their families, as well as other patients, at risk.

NHS England said it had been reassured by the Department of Health and Social Care that there was enough supply nationally and has set up a helpline for organisations to call to organise special deliveries.

Part of the concern among staff has also been fuelled by a change in guidance on treating coronavirus patients which means staff treating suspected patients can manage with normal surgical masks as the virus spreads mainly through larger droplets.

This means more protective respirators and hoods can be earmarked for use by staff such as anaesthetists and critical care nurses who are more at risk from catching the disease because they interact with patients’ airways.

Protective equipment sent to one NHS trust which was relabelled from 2017 to 2020

One senior nurse at a hospital in the Midlands said: “We are really short and are running out of FFP3 masks and gowns. We have been asking for more kit for over a week but keep being fobbed off.”

Another doctor said staff had been told to reuse their surgical masks.

NHS England’s chief operating officer Amanda Pritchard, told MPs on Tuesday: “We have been assured there is sufficient supply available nationally… However, we’re aware that there have been some local distribution problems.”

She said a helpline had been set up to provide hospitals with an immediate response so “we can make sure the stock is being moved to where it needs to be”.

Sir Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, added: “So, what we have done today is set up a dedicated helpline so if people have local issues they need immediate response to, then they have got somewhere to go.

“This is a challenge for every country. A lot of the Chinese supply for some of the more basic items has been disrupted so we are going to need to ramp up production for gowns in particular, and some of the facemasks.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said some organisations were sent stock which had been granted an extended shelf life after testing and stressed the equipment was still safe and effective.

They added: “Every piece of personal protective equipment (PPE) supplied to GPs in England is safe to use and will effectively protect staff if used correctly.

“NHS Supply Chain and Public Health England have worked with manufacturers and independent testing houses to formally test certain products, to see if it is possible to extend their life via accelerated age testing.

“The products that pass these stringent tests are subject to relabelling with a new shelf life as appropriate and can continue to be used. All that are not up to standard will be destroyed.”

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