Tag: PPE

PPE on it’s way to care homes across Scotland

Additional supplies of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) are to be delivered directly to care homes across Scotland to help meet the increased demand caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

NHS National Services Scotland will prioritise the delivery of stock directly to care homes where the virus is known to be present.

Stock will also continue to be provided to local hubs which supply PPE to other social care workers.

Each location will receive a week’s supply of equipment, including aprons, fluid resistant surgical masks and gloves.

The situation will be reviewed next week based on information supplied by care homes on their own supply of PPE stock.

The National Services Scotland Social Care triage service will continue to provide an emergency service in the case of unexpected short term demand.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “The dedication of those who work in the care sector is hugely appreciated and ensuring those staff are protected is a priority for me.

“They are doing a remarkable job in very difficult circumstances, and we will support them as they do that.

“We have dedicated teams working on the procurement and distribution of PPE to our health and social care workers.

“I believe that providing additional supplies straight to care homes will ensure all care homes in Scotland have enough PPE to allow them to continue to safely provide care and support to their residents. It should also allow time for care homes to work on sourcing their own stock.

“We are also working closely with COSLA to ensure the existing service provided by the local hubs is working as efficiently as possible.”

Scottish Care Chief Executive Donald Macaskill said: “Scottish Care warmly welcomes the announcement by the Cabinet Secretary that direct distribution of PPE to care services will be introduced.

“This will significantly support the protection of staff, residents and clients and the staff who care for and support them.

“I am grateful for the immediacy of response from Scottish Government and the recognition of the need to take these measures with urgency. All of us are working with determination in challenging circumstances to meet the threat of coronavirus.”

On Thursday, Social care providers and unions warned that a critical lack of protective equipment and testing has allowed coronavirus to “sweep through” social care.   

In a joint statement – signed by the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, UNISON, Unite, GMB and TUC – ministers are told that care workers and residents are still being exposed to unnecessary risk.

The care providers and union leaders warn that staff are being forced to risk their lives with care services struggling to get the equipment they need:  

“Social care is facing a crisis without precedent. Problems with supplies of protective equipment and a lack of testing is causing much anxiety amongst employers, staff, and the families of the people they care for. Many care home residents and care workers have already died.

“People who rely on social care are often more vulnerable to catching and dying from Covid-19. Yet a month into this crisis, many care workers are still working without suitable PPE, despite their heightened risk of exposure to the virus and to spreading it.

“A critical lack of PPE and testing of social care staff and service users is putting them at unnecessary risk of exposure – and means we are almost certainly underestimating how far the virus has spread.

The care providers and union leaders say that without urgent action the virus will continue to devastate the sector:  

“When patients with Covid-19 are rapidly discharged from hospitals to care homes to free up NHS beds, it risks spreading the virus to care homes and putting staff and residents in danger.

“We are pleased that the government has at last published its strategy for social care. But it needs to go further and action will be more important than words.

“Amidst growing evidence that Covid-19 is sweeping through social care with devastating results, we call on the Government to step up the fight against Covid-19 by:

  • Publishing a national procurement and distribution strategy for PPE that includes the social care sector, so that care homes and social care providers aren’t left to source their own PPE amidst global shortages and inflated prices.

  • Setting a clear deadline for when all care workers, clients, personal assistants and residents who need it will have access to testing.

  • Stopping the rapid discharging of Covid-19 patients to care homes unless there are key checks about safety

  • Fully involving the social care workforce and its unions and employers in responding to the crisis.

The care providers and union leaders say ministers must “learn the lessons” from the crisis and provide better funding for social care in the future:   

“Carers, local government, providers, regulators and civil servants are working tirelessly to respond to the crisis. But social care has been the poorer cousin of the NHS for too long. This pandemic is showing just how essential this largely female workforce is.

“Social care workers look after us all. Our parents, our grandparents, our partners, siblings and adult disabled children. Their work has long been undervalued, with services underfunded, staff often on the minimum wage or zero hours contracts and 122,000 vacancies in the sector.

“When this dreadful pandemic eases the Government must learn vital lessons about the failings of a social care system based on low pay and insecure work and put in place proper funding and a long-term plan for social care as soon as possible.”

Nursing organisation issues statement on PPE

The NMC has issued a statement on personal protective equipment that sets out key points to help nursing and midwifery professionals during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Andrea Sutcliffe CBE, Chief Executive and Registrar at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), said: “At this time of national crisis, it’s clear if we are to protect the public, then we’ve all got to do everything we can to ensure our nursing and midwifery professionals are able to practise as safely and as effectively as possible.

“We know that the consistent and timely availability of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) continues to be a significant challenge in health and social care across the UK. Understandably PPE is being raised with us by our registrants and their employers and is the focus of intense activity at a national level in all four countries.

“The statement we are publishing today clarifies the key points that nurses, midwives and nursing associates should take into account when applying the Code in practice and making considered professional judgements.

“I hope this information will provide reassurance for everyone using and working in health and care settings and help support nursing and midwifery professionals to make the right individual decisions for them and the people they care for during these incredibly challenging circumstances.”

The Statement:

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) recognises the enormous challenges faced by health and social care professionals at this time and we know they are worried about the timely delivery and provision of the right personal protective equipment (PPE).

Despite the significant and urgent effort to improve the availability of appropriate PPE in health and social care settings across the UK, some professionals are still facing situations where there is insufficient suitable protective equipment available.

Our Code and Standards support nurses, midwives and nursing associates in these difficult situations by setting out the key principles to follow to keep themselves, those they lead or manage and those they care for safe.

To support our registrants further we set out below some key points to help them as they put the Code into practice and exercise their professional judgment during this unprecedented pandemic situation.

How national guidance and the Code supports you as a nurse, midwife or nursing associate dealing with challenging PPE issues

National guidance on the use of PPE has been issued to support you during this time. Whether you are a nurses, midwife, nursing associate or a student on clinical placement you should follow this guidance, which covers a range of infection control measures, including hand hygiene and respiratory and cough hygiene, as well as advice on appropriate PPE and best practice.

Your employer is responsible for ensuring that you and any staff you lead or manage have all the necessary protective equipment – including protective clothing – and that you have access to current guidance on how and when to use it correctly to minimise the risk of transmission of Covid-19. Your employer is there to help you and your colleagues by managing resources effectively and dealing with risk, so that that the safety and quality of care or service you provide for people can be maintained.

As set out in the Code, if you have any concerns about the availability or use of PPE you must raise these with your manager as soon as possible, to make sure that they are aware of the issue and can take action to support you. You can also refer to our raising concerns guidance or seek advice from your representative body or trade union.

If situations arise where suitable equipment is not available difficult decisions may need to be made quickly about the safest and best course of action. The Code states that to preserve safety you must take account of your own personal safety, the safety of others and the availability of other options for care. So you shouldn’t feel that when making decisions, you have to place yourself or others at risk, or that you need to make these decisions on your own.

Where possible you should work with colleagues to find the best way forward in these circumstances. It is important to take into consideration the balance of risks in relation to those people who are dependent on care services, as well as the requirement to protect yourself and other staff so that they are able to provide ongoing care.

Any decisions you make should take account of local and/or national clinical guidance, advice and protocols.

Factors to consider include:

  • whether treatment can be delayed or provided differently (for example, remotely)
  • the availability of different levels of PPE that may offer sufficient protection to you and others in particular care activities
  • whether some members of the wider team are at a higher risk of infection than others
  • whether different care and treatment decisions might be appropriate to minimise the risk of transmission in accordance with local and national advice
  • Taking account of all the options available, what course of action is likely to result in the least harm in the circumstances, taking into account your own safety, the safety of others and the people in your care.

You should make a record of your decisions regarding how you handle any safety concerns. You should describe how you used your own professional judgment, the role of other members of the team in decision making, and the outcome.

We acknowledge that in exercising your professional judgment in line with the Code you may decide that you need to refuse to provide care or treatment to an individual because it is not safe for you to do so.

If a concern is raised with us about any registrant refusing to treat a patient because of their concerns about inadequate PPE or being responsible for service delivery in the absence of adequate PPE, we would follow the approach that we have set out in our joint regulatory statement. As part of this approach we would consider the context of the current pandemic, including the risks that the individual registrant was exposed to and how they exercised and recorded their professional judgment in line with the Code.

Edinburgh doctor raises funds for PPE Equipment

An Edinburgh doctor has started a campaign to raise £50,000 to help provide much needed PPE equipment for his fellow healthcare workers risking their lives across the city.

Dr Nestor Demosthenous, who has his own medical and cosmetic centre on Dundas Street, has started a Just Giving page to raise funds to supply healthcare workers across Edinburgh and the Lothians with the necessary protective equipment such as masks, visors, gowns and gloves.

With the eventual scale of the pandemic in Scotland still unknown, Dr Nestor has started the campaign in the hope that it will go someway in preparing for what other countries are currently experiencing such as Spain and Italy, with healthcare workers significantly affected across the board.

Dr Nestor said: “Having spent many years in surgical training with the NHS, I fully understand the sacrifices that my colleagues are making every day for the safety of others.

“There’s been so many amazing examples of people in the community supporting our local health workers and we were keen to do our part to help protect them.

“The rate of PPE use is at an all time high. Supply is an increasing concern. This makes it harder to get out to healthcare workers fast enough. We’ve seen these issue in other countries. We hope that this campaign can at least help make a difference at a local level.

“We have so far managed to raise just over £6000 thanks to our clients and friends, however there is still a lot of work to do to reach the target. We know the people of Edinburgh and the Lothians will do their best to support this campaign and we urge anyone who wants to help protect these amazing workers to donate something, however small it is, as it will make such a difference.”

As well as starting the fundraising campaign, Dr Nestor has himself applied to support the NHS on the frontline and is currently waiting to be deployed.

To donate to the campaign please visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ppelothians

Government sets out plan for national effort on PPE

  • To date, over 761 million pieces of PPE delivered across the UK
  • Full, 24/7 military operation underway to manage supply and demand right across the UK
  • New domestic PPE manufacturing effort with Rolls Royce and McLaren to make more protective equipment
  • Website launching to enable primary, social, and community care providers to request critical PPE

A UK-wide plan to ensure that critical personal protective equipment (PPE) is delivered to those on the frontline responding to coronavirus (COVID-19) was announced yesterday by Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock.

The 3-strand plan launched on Friday will provide clear guidance on who needs PPE and when they need it, ensure those who need it can get it at the right time and set out action to secure enough PPE to last through the crisis.

A full, 24/7 military operation is already underway to deal with the unprecedented, global demand for PPE as a result of this pandemic.

A new national supply and logistics network has been created from scratch in a matter of weeks to manage supply and demand across the UK, and to make sure appropriate PPE reaches those who need it.

A new website, developed with the help of the military, is being rolled out in the coming weeks to improve distribution and will enable primary, social and community care providers in England to order critical PPE.

In addition, a new PPE hub provides easy access to all the government’s guidance on PPE in one place – a one-stop shop people can visit to understand what PPE they need.

This is in addition to a 24-hour helpline that already allows providers to request emergency drops of PPE to meet immediate need.

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: “I will stop at nothing to protect those on the frontline who are fighting this virus.

“Our heroic health and care staff are working around the clock and my absolute priority is to support them. Our new online ordering tool for PPE is supported by a 24/7national supply and logistics network.

“There is a herculean effort behind the scenes, supported by the military, to get the right kit to our frontline heroes. These new supply chains, matched with a call to arms for more businesses and organisations to join this national effort, will help save lives.”

The 3-strand plan sets out:

  1. guidance: being clear who needs PPE and when, and who does not, based on UK clinical expertise and WHO standards. This will ensure workers on the front line are able to do their jobs safely, while making sure PPE is only used when clinically necessary and isn’t wasted or stockpiled
  2. distribution: making sure those who need PPE can get it and at the right time. The government will ensure those who need critical PPE receive it as quickly as possible by setting up a new national supply system
  3. future supply: taking action to secure enough PPE to see us through the crisis. The actions being taken to ensure we have enough critical PPE to last the UK through the pandemic, working alongside industry to boost future supply. The government has already co-ordinated deliveries of PPE directly to health and care providers and to 38 local resilience forums across England. These efforts are being co-ordinated across all 4 nations of the UK to ensure appropriate distribution of critical PPE

Since the beginning of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, over 761 million items of PPE have been delivered across the UK to 58,000 different settings, including hospitals, hospices, care homes, home care providers, GPs, pharmacists and dentists to ensure our frontline is protected. This includes 158 million masks, 135 million aprons and 360 million pairs of gloves.

The plan also emphasises the need to ramp up domestic production of PPE. The government is calling on industry to join forces to manufacture more protective equipment to support the national effort.

Already companies such as Burberry, Rolls-Royce, McLaren, Ineos and Diageo have started work to produce equipment including gowns, visors and hand hygiene products.

Last week, following extensive consultation with the Medical Royal Colleges, all 4 UK governments published updated guidance for PPE for health and care workers. This covers doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, social workers and social care staff.

Critical PPE guidance has also been published for cleaners, funeral directors and first responders. Beyond these roles in settings including supermarkets and public transport, the clinical evidence, which is kept under review, does not suggest widespread benefit from wearing PPE over and above social distancing, social isolation and good hand hygiene.

In addition to this a new dedicated team has been set up to focus on securing supplies and identifying PPE suppliers from across the globe to meet the increasing demand for a growing list of products, with a call to arms to businesses to turn their manufacturing efforts to this response to meet technical specifications published by government.

Businesses and organisations including Kingfisher Group, Apple, Huawei and BP have also stepped up to the plate to generously offer their own PPE for use by the NHS and public organisations.

But health professionals say they need more than warm words and three point plans at this critical time – they need ACTION, in the form of vital PPE equipment NOW.

The British Medical Association has learned that personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies in two large areas of England are running at dangerously low levels, and that some pieces of equipment are no longer available – forcing doctors into impossible situations and ultimately, putting their lives at risk.

The doctors’ union understands that current PPE supplies in London and Yorkshire are not sufficient to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak. This means staff and patients are increasingly being placed in harm’s way as they battle against the virus.

The Government is therefore, forcing doctors to place themselves and their patients in grave danger by expecting them to treat COVID-19 patients without adequate PPE.

The evidence comes just two weeks after the Government said that supplies of PPE were plentiful, and that equipment was flowing out to trusts.

According to a recent survey(1) by the BMA, however, more than half of doctors working in high-risk environments(2) said there were either shortages or no supply at all of adequate face masks, while 65% said they did not have access to eye protection.

Futhermore, 55% said they felt pressurised to work in a high-risk area despite not having adequate PPE.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, said: “No doctor should ever have to be in harm’s way when they go to work, and in these unprecedented times, this has never been more important.

“This is not the flu. We are dealing with an unknown, highly-infectious, and potentially deadly virus that has already claimed the lives of several healthcare workers, including 11 doctors in the UK. It is absurd that the people trained to treat this disease are the ones who are not being appropriately protected – and without them, we face real disaster.

“It’s unclear whether the lack of PPE is directly linked to the recorded deaths of doctors so far, but we know that no healthcare workers have been infected in a hospital in Italy precisely because their PPE supplies are sufficient and of high-quality.

“This must be replicated here, in every healthcare setting, as a matter of urgency. Without it, doctors are being forced into a corner, facing heart-breaking decisions over whether to carry on caring for patients without proper protection and put themselves and patients at risk.

“This is an immensely difficult position to be in, but is ultimately down to the Government’s chronic failure to supply us with the proper equipment. We cannot continue like this, and need to see enough, adequate PPE delivered to staff across the country as soon as possible, not just for our health, but also, and most importantly, our patients’.

“We note the Government’s announcement this afternoon and its three-strand PPE Plan. However, PPE should not be a ‘precious resource’ and for NHS staff facing shortages of protection they need today, they don’t want to hear of a plan, but that this vital equipment is made available to the front line now.”

New guidelines to protect frontline staff

New guidance on personal protective equipment (PPE) has been published for health and social care workers responding to coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland.

The guidance, which has been agreed by the four UK Chief Medical Officers and Chief Nursing Officers, follows an urgent review of the existing guidance against the latest evidence and WHO advice, on the safest way to protect health and social care staff.

The new guidance includes:

  • what type of PPE to use in secondary, primary and community care settings, and when to wear it
  • when clinicians need to wear a higher level of protective equipment, and in which settings
  • detailed advice around risk assessing use of PPE in a range of different clinical scenarios, including community settings, such as care homes and caring for individuals in their own homes

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “Protecting staff working on the frontline is an absolute priority and I want to thank each and every one of them for their hard work and commitment in this incredibly challenging situation.

“I want our staff to feel as safe as possible and this updated guidance provides clarity so that health and social care staff caring for patients feel confident in which PPE they need to wear in different situations and settings.”

Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Catherine Calderwood said: “The updates to the guidance reflect the fact that COVID-19 is now widespread in the community, so health and social care workers are more likely to see patients with the virus, some of whom will not have symptoms yet.

“We have introduced new measures to improve the distribution of PPE, including a single point of contact for all health boards to manage local PPE supply and distribution, and an email address for NHS staff to contact if they do not have what they need. This is covid-19-health-PPE@gov.scot. It will be monitored continuously and allow us to act to resolve any specific supply issues more quickly.

“A helpline has also been set up for registered social care providers having problems accessing PPE, with extra staff to prepare orders for social care, additional delivery drivers, longer delivery hours and use of more external delivery companies to increase capacity. Work continues to source further PPE and ensure there is an appropriate supply for all our workforce.”

The Scottish Government also outlined details of the improved process to report COVID-19 deaths that began yesterday.

As part of this new system, 40 deaths, which would not yet have been reported under the old system – because next of kin had not been informed – have been included and allocated to the last three days as appropriate.

The data below shows the running total of the number of deaths reported, under the old and new systems, of those confirmed to have died from Coronavirus across the last few days. There are now 126 deaths confirmed using the new system:

Tuesday 31 March – 69 (previously 60)

Wednesday 1 April – 97 (76)

Thursday 2 April – 126 (86).