NHS staff 'terrified' as three quarters say government failing to protect them

A third of healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses and supporting staff, also said their health is worse than it was before the crisis, the survey by think tank IPPR revealed.

When asked if government had done enough during the Covid-19 outbreak to prevent and test health and care workers for illness – for example, through personal protective equipment (PPE) provision and priority diagnostic testing – 72 per cent said it had not.

It is a legal requirement that all employers ensure they provide suitable PPE to workers who may be exposed to a risk to their health or safety while at work.

Despite this, PPE stocks are running dangerously low in some hospitals, with the government suggesting the “precious resource” may need to be rationed.

On Wednesday, a leaked Public Health England document revealed that health bosses were considering advising NHS workers to wash single-use protective items.

According to the BBC, the document said: "These are last-resort alternatives, but given the current in-country stock and the reduced ability to re-supply, we are suggesting that these are implemented until confirmation of adequate re-supply is in place."

The plans also suggested other alternatives, like wearing sportswear goggles and wearing patients’ gowns.

Earlier this week, the government confirmed at least 16 coronavirus deaths were NHS workers, though the true figure is likely to be much higher.

One of these was 55-year-old mother Zauma Ekoli, an agency nurse at Harrogate District Hospital, who died on Monday.

She had previously described the provision of PPE as “poor”.

NHS trusts across Yorkshire are currently fitting non-frontline staff with airtight masks so they may be deployed elsewhere.

One Yorkshire nurse who currently works with disabled children said she was concerned that she would be deployed to an ICU without adequate equipment.

She said: “We’ve been told that if our masks don’t fit we’ll stay in our current jobs, which is reassuring but everything is changing so quickly that I’m worried they’ll go back on it. I already work nearby and I’m worried they’ll ask me to work in Nightingale (the temporary hospital in Harrogate created to help care for coronavirus patients). I’m not an ICU nurse. To be honest, I’m terrified.

“The government should have done more much, much earlier to look after nurses and healthcare professionals. My view is that it has already cost lives and there are going to be more. It could be me. I just don’t know.”

Harry Quilter-Pinner, senior research fellow and head of IPPR’s Better Health and Care Programme said: “Our heroic health and care staff are risking their own lives on a daily basis in order to save ours, but they cannot do this if they get sick themselves. The government must act now to ensure they have all the protective equipment they need to do their job properly and safely.”

This follows similar research from the Wellcome Trust into concerns in the social care sector, which found lack of PPE was the biggest concern among carers.

Mr Quilter-Pinner added: “There is a particular problem in the social care system where there are severe shortages of protective and testing equipment. For too long social care has been an afterthought. Care workers are risking their lives just like NHS staff. At this time of crisis we must finally deliver parity of esteem between our health and care systems.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are working around the clock to give the NHS and the wider social care sector the equipment and support they need to tackle this global outbreak.

“Since the start of the outbreak, we’ve delivered over 923 million pieces of PPE to the frontline and have published clear guidance setting out the safest levels of PPE to protect healthcare workers in different settings, in line with WHO advice.

“We are also working closely with Public Health England to monitor the impact on care homes. We have now tested over 50,000 NHS staff or members of their household and are working hard to increase testing capacity across the social care sector.”

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