Terrified Scots nurses go home in tears over fears that “inadequate” PPE is not enough to protect them from the rapidly spreading new coronavirus strain.
The Daily Record has been raising the PPE issue with the Scottish Government for at least nine months but ministers insist it is safe for nurses to use in hospital settings while dealing with Covid patients.
However, with the more transmissible new strain of the virus now dominant in Scotland, nurses are again raising concerns – and this time they have the backing of medical experts who agree their PPE is far from adequate.
Doctors’ union the BMA and the GMB union have both called for “urgent improvements in PPE”.
And an open letter signed by 1500 healthcare professionals also called for staff in general wards to be given high-quality FFP3 masks.
Hospital staff who work with Covid patients on intensive care wards or deal with aerosol generating procedures like ventilators are issued with FFP3 masks, which seal round the nose and mouth and come with an air filter – keeping them as safe as possible from the virus.
But all other staff who treat Covid patients are given paper surgeon’s masks to wear, which are known to offer more protection to the patient than the nurse or doctor.
Early in the pandemic it was believed the virus could only be caught by being in close proximity to an infected person or from a surface they had contaminated.
But research since then highlighted how it is possible for the virus to be carried in aerosols, drifting and accumulating in the air.
In their letter, the healthcare workers state: “It is now essential that healthcare workers have their PPE upgraded to protect against airborne transmission.”
Retired gastroenterologist Dr Barry Jones, a leading expert on aerosols, said data shows a fifth of people being treated on wards may have acquired the infection in hospital.
He added: “It’s the air we share that’s killing us.”
The GMB has written to UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock calling for action. Rachel Harrison, GMB national officer, said: “Our health and social care services are on the point of collapse due to Covid-related absence and immense pressure on the already creaking system.
“They are putting their lives at risk to try to save ours – the least we can do is make sure they are properly protected while they do it.”
A handful of hospitals in England have already changed their advice and are providing FFP3 masks for all staff in contact with Covid patients.
Nurses have been tenaciously trying to raise their colleagues’ concerns. One even dressed as the “faceless frontline worker” in May to demonstrate PPE failures.
But just last month that nurse told the Record: “Nobody is listening. Ninety per cent of nurses are wearing surgical type 2R masks but they should be wearing FFP3 masks.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said last night: “The safety of our essential frontline workforce is an absolute priority – and any suggestion to the contrary is entirely wrong.
“The advice from Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) experts in Scotland and the UK IPC cell is that the evidence does not currently support a change to the type of PPE we use.”
