Ambulance staff 'feeling unprotected' against coronavirus

The GMB union has said that ambulance staff are being put at risk by a lack of protective equipment to guard them against coronavirus.

The union claims one in five ambulance staff in London are off sick with coronavirus-related sickness, equating to roughly 679 frontline ambulance workers. Among those at work, some say they feel unprotected either because of a lack of or inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE).

The government says hundreds of millions of protective items have been delivered to NHS staff around the country and Public Health England continues to advise that any clinician working within two metres of a suspected or confirmed coronavirus patient should wear an apron, gloves, surgical mask and eye protection, depending on risk.

Paul Turner, a union representative who has returned to front-line paramedic duties in the north west of England, said: “We are crying out for better personal protective equipment. I am seeing some of the strongest characters in the ambulance service at the moment at breaking point. Our aprons are disposable and flimsy and our sleeve protectors do not cover all of our jackets. We go from one patient to the next and our uniform is potentially contaminated. We also don't want to be taking Covid-19 home to our families. This PPE might be suitable in a controlled setting, but unfortunately in the ambulance world our settings are not controlled."

The Department of Health and Social Care has said that every hospital, community pharmacy and ambulance trust has now had a PPE delivery.

The GMB union also revealed that ‘horrified’ staff at Barnsley hospital treating coronavirus patients have been given PPE 19 years out of date. On many of the items a sticker has been put over the date to try and hide it. Some of FFP3 masks date back to 2001 – but workers have been accused of scaremongering if they bring it up.