NURSES are still being forced to share personal protective equipment, reuse masks or buy their own, MPs have been told.
The chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Dame Donna Kinnair wrote to MPs demanding nurses in all healthcare settings are protected.
⚠️ Read our coronavirus live blog for the latest news & updates
2
Dame Donna submitted evidence to the Health and Social Care Committee saying that nurses are not seeing enough of the millions of pieces of PPE sent out to hospitals.
She said: “Nursing staff are at the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“Our safety and ability to care for patients is being fundamentally compromised by the lack of adequate and correct supplies of vital personal protective equipment (PPE) and the slow and small-scale roll out of COVID-19 testing.”
“Our members are facing impossible decisions between their own or their family’s health and their sense of duty.
“The distribution and adequacy of PPE has led nursing staff to share equipment, buy their own supplies or to reuse single-use PPE.”
The submission from the RCN said: “Due to inadequate supplies of PPE for staff, there are reports that members have been required to re-use equipment.
Nurses were also having “to use equipment previously marked as out of date, to clean down old gowns with alcohol wipes and to use alternative equipment donated for protection.”
The shocking revelations that medical staff are having to reuse PPE, which compromises their effectiveness, comes after weeks of NHS workers crying out for more protection.
A spokesman for No10 said today that over 600millions items of PPE have been sent to hospitals all over the country – 30million were sent out yesterday alone.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said repeatedly there are no problems with supply levels, but they are working on ensuring proper distribution.
Give now to The Sun’s NHS appeal
BRITAIN’s four million NHS staff are on the frontline in the battle against coronavirus.
But while they are helping save lives, who is there to help them?
The Sun has launched an appeal to raise £1MILLION for NHS workers.
The Who Cares Wins Appeal aims to get vital support to staff in their hour of need.
We have teamed up with NHS Charities Together in their urgent Covid-19 Appeal to ensure the money gets to exactly who needs it.
The Sun is donating £50,000 and we would like YOU to help us raise a million pounds, to help THEM.
No matter how little you can spare, please donate today here
The RCN have said there is a disproportionate focus on getting to NHS hospitals, but nurses in care homes and GPs surgeries are being left with “either no or poor access to PPE, and no hand sanitiser.”
One care home boss burst into tears last week because they were only sent 300 face masks, but her workers visited 24,000 homes a week.
People have vented on Twitter about the lack of protection.
One nurse wrote: “I’ll be at work when you all #ClapForBoris providing essential care and support for elderly vulnerable people. You clap if you want to, I’ll be too busy providing personal care, with inadequate PPE.”
Two nurses, both mothers in their 30s, died last week after being infected with coronavirus.
Only last month, medical staff were wearing bin bags because they did not have enough PPE.
PHE guidance says in some circumstances a long-sleeved disposable fluid-repellent gown, gloves and eye protection must be worn too, Public Health England guidance said.
2
CORONAVIRUS CRISIS – STAY IN THE KNOW
Don’t miss the latest news and figures – and essential advice for you and your family.
To receive The Sun’s Coronavirus newsletter in your inbox every tea time, sign up here.
To follow us on Facebook, simply ‘Like’ our Coronavirus page.
Get Britain’s best-selling newspaper delivered to your smartphone or tablet each day – find out more.
