How PPE shortages in our hospitals are risking lives of NHS heroes

ONE of my closest friends is an advanced nurse practitioner working in A&E at a large hospital in Lancashire.

She has tested positive for coronavirus, she lives with her diabetic asthmatic husband and has an asthmatic son. Her elderly father is symptomatic.

She says it is no surprise that she has contracted the virus as she feels that the frontline staff are being treated like cannon fodder.

They are only given full PPE in certain circumstances, such as during intubation. However they are seeing and treating many, many patients who are obviously clinically Covid positive with only flimsy aprons and the cheapest of masks and no eye protection.

They are being exposed to the virus on a daily basis and, therefore, will have a much higher viral load than those exposed in a less intense environment.

The provision of safe and adequate PPE is paramount if health care workers are to remain safe and healthy, and able to fulfil their roles without putting themselves and their families at risk (The Yorkshire Post, April 9 and 10).

My sister and her fiancé are frontline NHS staff working at Harrogate District Hospital and, along with many of my friends, they all report the same problems with PPE. It is essential that this problem is publicised and addressed.

It is a sorry state of affairs when NHS staff are having to look at ways of purchasing their own PPE.

From: Roger Backhouse, Orchard Road, Upper Poppleton, York.

TOM Richmond is spot on (The Yorkshire Post, April 11). As Home Secretary, Priti Patel should not be above scrutiny.

Despite the importance of the police in enforcing lockdown, it is remarkable that she was not trusted to give a press conference until Saturday. Whilst I recognise that she and other ministers face enormous pressure, her comments there did not inspire confidence.

While some blame her civil servants for failures, Ministers are responsible for their departments. We’ve had Conservative Home Secretaries for 10 years. They managed the Home Office without provoking walkouts by staff. I recommend Ken Clarke’s book Shades of Blue to see how a Minister should run his department.

Priti Patel shows every sign of a minister who was promoted way above her ability. I predict that in six months time she will have been demoted or sacked, and deservedly so.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

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James Mitchinson

Editor