The Department of Health said: 'We are working night and day to ensure our frontline health and social care staff have the equipment they need to tackle this virus, and have delivered over a billion items of PPE since the outbreak began. The failure to provide enough PPE to hospitals and care homes has been one of the biggest issues in the pandemic, with the Government admitting it cannot lift the lockdown before it is resolved. As a bare minimum we expect our health service to provide the equipment we need to protect ourselves and our patients.' 'This is a truly terrible state of affairs. 'That so many people are having to re-use PPE shows how desperate the shortages are. Its president, Professor Andrew Goddard, said: 'Many personal protective equipment items are designed for single use and should only be re-used in extreme circumstances. Some 27 per cent of doctors were re-using their personal protective equipment or had done so. Overall 27 per cent said they could not get the equipment they needed, which was up from 22 per cent when the college carried out the same survey three weeks ago. The figure for goggles was even lower at 50 per cent. Just 69 per cent said they were always able to access the vital long-sleeved gowns. Nearly a third – 31 per cent – said they had not had their facemasks 'fit tested' to ensure they provided maximum protection. The number of new cases continued to rise in the latest data, but the rate has slowed significantlyĪ Royal College's survey – completed by 2,129 members – also highlighted concerns that protective equipment was poorly fitting. James Bullion, of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, told the BBC's World at One: 'It's been promised for some weeks and not arrived.'Ĭhris Hopson of NHS Providers, which represents hospital trusts, said: 'It will be important – when the time comes for a public inquiry – to examine why the pandemic stockpile was not configured for an epidemic like the one we face today.' The shortages are affecting care homes as well. 'I'm very, very sorry to hear of that report.' She told BBC Breakfast that she had a box of gloves and they were not badged up as being in pairs, although said she was 'not going to be drawn into the detail of these figures'.īut Ms Atkins said: 'We have been very transparent about figures throughout and we have got to keep with transparency because that is how we keep people's trust.' Safeguarding Minister Victoria Atkins this morning did not deny that the Government had been counting gloves individually following the Panorama attack. The protective clothes should be worn only once because washing them at temperatures high enough to kill coronavirus weakens their effectiveness.Īn RAF Atlas, believed to be carrying a cargo of PPE is unloaded at Brize Norton Ministers are also accused of ignoring a warning last June that they would need to purchase more. The college's leader said the survey revealed a 'terrible state of affairs' and – in a further blow to the Government – an investigation found that officials failed to buy enough gowns when setting up an emergency stockpile in 2009. It comes as a shocking poll by the Royal College of Physicians yesterday found that a quarter of doctors are having to re-use protective kit meant to be worn just once. Safeguarding Minister Victoria Atkins did not deny the claims on BBC Breakfast this morning, and said she would not be 'drawn into the detail of these figures'. They have also included cleaning items in their 'one billion' figure. The investigation also accused ministers of counting 547million individual gloves, instead of 273.5million pairs, to fiddle PPE numbers. Officials neglected to purchase enough PPE and then ignored a warning from their own advisers last June that they would need more, it was claimed. The Government's shambolic handling of the PPE crisis was laid bare last night after a documentary claimed ministers counted every glove individually instead of in pairs to boast of delivering one billion bits of protective kit to NHS staff.Ī BBC Panorama investigation revealed Number 10 had failed to buy enough masks, gowns, visors and swab tests - despite creating a major emergency stockpile for use during a pandemic in 2009.
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