Today, right now, where are the personal protective equipment (PPE) for our NHS Staff and frontline emergency workers? The Government must, without fail, provide them for our workers. It’s clearly their responsibility, and this problem has been persisting for months now.
Outside of the hospitals, ICU’s and operating theatres the use of PPE’s in the healthcare sector, like, GP’s, nursing homes are not used much. This pandemic has turned all that upside down. Now the ambulance services, police services, fire officers and even street cleaners, waste and recycling workers need them. The problem seems to be that they are available but can’t distribute them to the places that need them. There is a high turn over for PPE’s and they need to meet strict contingent safety standards.
With the coronavirus pandemic spreading out of control across the globe, the only force we have at our disposal in defence of this catastrophic pandemic is our NHS.
We have all witnessed the tremendous pressure doctors, nurses and other health care professionals are facing, and they are all making heroic efforts to keep patients alive and stable. That is why every Thursday I have stood outside my house clapping for the NHS, carers and frontline emergency workers. And now with a loud voice, I am demanding that these great people be afforded this equipment.
The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock said in March 2020. All care settings should have access to personal protective equipment (PPE) by the end of the week in a statement to the house of commons.
In another report, by the independent, showed NHS staff were supplied with out-of-date face masks.
Source: VOI Radio Drive Time 3rd April 2020: 11 mins into the show, they said:
Whilst the rest of us are told to keep 2 metres away from each other, treating COVID patients also requires physical contact. Whilst we are walking out covered in gloves and masks, health care workers are exposing themselves unflinchingly to the virus. Those doctors working in intensive care units, despite being covered well with protective gear, such as protective face masks, are being left with scars.
Labour calls for urgent action for the Government to protect care staff and social care system. Barbara Keeley MP, (Labour’s Shadow Minister for Mental Health and Social Care) and Jonathan Ashworth MP, (Labours Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary) have set out four key areas of action from the Government to address the growing COVID-19 crisis faced by social care.
The four key areas:
- Increased delivery of PPE for care staff.
- Provide the social care sector with immediate additional funding.
- Test, test, test in social care.
- Provide continuous monitoring of the pressures faced by the social care system and leadership from the department of health and social care.
Delivery of PPE: Millions of personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline staff were delivered to NHS services across the country last month and now needs to be distributed to the most affected part of the country that needs them. The distribution, turnover of PPE’s and quality need to be resolved.
Deliveries are arriving, but mainly on ships from around the world. Manufacturing companies and even students are turning their attention to producing masks while using 3D printers. And NHS staff are making masks from snorkels.
Today, more than ever, service to humanity is crucial. When Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a call for volunteers to help serve alongside the NHS performing tasks. The response was fantastically and genuinely British.
How volunteers could help.
- By delivering medicine to patients.
- Transporting patients to and from the hospital.
- Making regular phone calls to check in on people who may be isolated at home.
The Government called for 250,000 people for help, and the British people responded. no doubt out of their love and concern for the NHS. What amazed me was the triple the amount volunteered! And now they have had to pause recruitment drive as overwhelming amount responded.
We cannot forget, frontline doctors have been treating patients at the risk of contracting the virus themselves, and potentially taking it home to families, husbands, wives, parents and children. The doctors go from patient to patient, speaking to them, examining and reviewing their condition. We need to find an optimal balance between safety for patients and health care workers which considers existing guidelines and the urgency of delivering PPE.
Just remember during these unsettling times, it is the duty of all to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.