RAF jets set to deliver 84 tonnes of PPE to hero health workers
A HUGE military airlift will today deliver vital personal protective equipment for hero health workers.
RAF jets are flying in 400,000 gowns — part of 84 tons of PPE — from an airbase in Turkey.
Distribution will begin as soon as the C17 and A400 aircraft land at RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire.
Yesterday two British Airways jets arrived in the UK from China with PPE and ventilator parts.
But medics may still have to wear plastic aprons over gowns amid fears the new shipments could only last a short while.
Around 150,000 gowns a day are needed for NHS staff.
Public Health England changed its advice on Friday to allow the reuse of gowns if stocks run low.
The move has angered unions and surgeons’ bosses who warned members could refuse to complete duties. At least 61 NHS staff have died from the virus so far.
One official said: “Masks sometimes need to be changed ten times a shift, and several gowns need to be worn as staff move from wards and bays. You can’t wear the same equipment for a 12-hour shift.”
Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick told yesterday’s No10 briefing the Turkey lift was a “very large consignment” of PPE to meet the “short supply” for workers in 50,000 healthcare settings.
He said: “They should be assured we are doing everything we can to correct this issue, and to get them the equipment that they need.”
Meanwhile, Prof Stephen Powis, national medical director of NHS England, made a thinly-veiled attack on the Government over Friday’s changed guidance.
He said ministers should instead stick to PHE rules agreed two weeks ago with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and the Royal College of Nursing.
He added: “I’m a doctor. I’ve worked on the front line for many years and can assure you for me and my clinical colleagues, this is very personal. These are my friends, my extended family.”
Panicked ministers have drafted in the boss of the 2012 London Olympics to be a PPE czar.
Lord Paul Deighton will take charge of scaling up production and co-ordinating distribution.
Visors, gowns, gloves, safety boots and chemical suits are all needed in hospitals and care homes.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock likened the role to Beaverbrook’s appointment to spearhead aircraft production in World War Two.
Mr Hancock said his colleague would “bring renewed drive and focus to coordinate this unprecedented peacetime challenge”.
Lord Deighton added: “This effort calls for exceptional teamwork and I am confident that together we will rise to this challenge.”
The position is unpaid and he will work across Whitehall departments.
Top-end firms including Burberry, Barbour, Louis Vuitton and Philip Treacy have all said their manufacturing equipment could be used in the effort. Unions said their members may have to think twice about working if equipment isn’t up to standard.
Sara Gorton, Unison head of health, said: “These are worst-case scenario measures, which staff hope their organisations won’t have to implement.
“No part of the NHS should use this move as an excuse to ration supplies of gowns when they still have stocks. That would cause a damaging breakdown of trust at a time when staff are working under intense pressure.
“Health managers must be truly honest with staff and their union reps over the weekend.
“If gowns run out, staff in high-risk areas may well decide that it’s no longer safe for them to work.”
Advice from the Royal College of Nursing is their members should refuse to treat patients as a “last resort” if not handed adequate PPE.
Prof Neil Mortensen, president-elect of the Royal College of Surgeons, said Friday’s guidance was deeply disturbing and issued without consultation.
‘Many will put themselves in the line of fire’
He said: “The new guidance implies that, even in the operating theatre, surgeons and their teams may not require proper PPE. This is simply unacceptable.”
He said that like all doctors, surgeons are committed to their patients and “many will put themselves in the line of fire”. He added: “If fluid-repellent gowns or coveralls are not available, then surgeons should not risk their health.”
Meanwhile, a mother has expressed fears her nurse daughter could die due to a lack of PPE.
The unnamed mum said her daughter — a young mother who works on a Covid-19 ward — came home from work in tears.
The mum said: “She told me she was frightened that she will never see her children grow up.
“She said, ‘Mum, if I have to go on a ventilator, only put me on one if they know I’m going to come out of it. I want to be alive for my babies.’” The mum added: “Several days ago they only had two masks left on her ward. The next day they changed their policy and staff must now wear these flimsy tie masks.
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“Staff have said they will provide their own if the NHS won’t give them but they have been told they are not allowed.
“It is devastating. I don’t want my daughter to go to work but she’s a nurse — it is her job to care.”
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has written to Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Michael Gove, to raise concerns about the shortage.
She said the Government must “harness the willing and talents of manufacturers” to increase supplies.
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