Luton Borough Council leader demands protective equipment for NHS staff

Labour Lewsey councillor Hazel Simmons has sent an open letter to the Secretary of State for health and social care, Matt Hancock.

​The letter asks the government to urgently provide clear deadlines about when the delivery of adequate personal protection equipment (PPE) can be expected, according to a council spokeswoman.

“This will ensure our staff are fully protected during their vital roles supporting some of the most vulnerable children, young people and adults in the town,” she said.

In her letter, councillor Simmons said: “I am very proud of our amazing front line staff, who are truly committed and working tirelessly to care for some of the most vulnerable children, young people and adults in the town.

“Yet every day, they could be potentially putting themselves at risk, as well as their families and those they care for, because of the lack of PPE.

“These hard-working people are required to support residents face-to-face to do their jobs and they must be given protection.”

The letter explains that it was announced last week that millions of PPE items were delivered to NHS staff.

“But Luton Council, in common with many other local authorities, is still waiting to hear when additional equipment will arrive,” added councillor Simmons.

“To date, we have only received minimal supplies which do not adequately address the needs of our staff and providers of front line services.

“Our social workers, care staff and other employees, as well as service providers, have understandable concerns about fulfilling their duties while not being fully protected.

“In response to their concerns and to meet our duty-of-care to staff, our officers have been sourcing and ordering stocks of face masks, aprons, gloves and other PPE on a daily basis, during the past three weeks.

“But this has been with limited success because of the lack of readily available supplies.

“Despite their best efforts, we are unable to receive a bulk delivery of more than 50,000 face masks, for example, until mid-April.”

These need to be worn when supporting people with suspected Covid-19 symptoms or live cases, in accordance with the NHS specification.

“We are calling on the government to urgently provide us with clear time scales of when we can expect delivery of adequate PPE to meet these needs,” explained councillor Simmons.

“We also want further guidance on how we can continue to protect staff, so they can confidently, without fear, carry out their vital roles of protecting the town’s vulnerable people.”

Equipment from the pandemic stockpile has been released to hospitals, GPs, social care workers and pharmacies already.

But an organisation representing doctors was reported to have said some were buying DIY store goggles because their eye masks were so inadequate