Nearly half of nurses working in covid-19 high-risk areas in Scotland’s hospitals report they have been told to re-use PPE that is meant to be used once and disposed of for hygiene reasons.

A survey carried out by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) reveals around a third of nurses working in these environments are not being trained in how to properly take PPE on and off.

Across all areas of hospital and care in the community, roughly half of nurses said they had felt pressured to treat patients despite not having the right level of protection as recommended by government guidance.

It comes as UNISON warns some staff were being asked to wipe down and re-use single use gowns.

Thomas Waterson, chair of the union’s Scotland health committee, said members had been coming forward “in their droves” to report concerns about the availability, distribution and quality of PPE.

It says the Scottish Government has agreed to set up a PPE taskforce to address the problems.

Other issues highlighted by the RCN survey include nurses not having masks ‘fit tested’ to make sure they will work correctly and a lack of suitable changing and washing facilities.

However, three quarters of those who raised concerns said managers had addressed them “fully or partially”.

RCN Scotland Director Theresa Fyffe said the results “speak for themselves”:

“It’s fundamental to personal safety and effective infection control that nursing staff have the correct PPE and that it fits properly. Incorrectly fitting PPE might not provide effective protection.

“It’s also essential that they are trained in its proper use and have adequate changing and washing facilities.”

Ministers admitted yesterday that more needed to be done to support care homes, including delivery of PPE supplies direct to care homes, which previously had to be picked up from a local distribution hub.

Unveiling a four-point support plan, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said “We know from our work with Scottish Care from the data we see that we need to provide more support to our care home sector to ensure we can reduce the transmission of the virus.”

The NHS will be asked to provide “additional clinical leadership” to help primary care workers in residential homes.

Every care home in the country will be able to augment local supplies with PPE delivered directly from the national stockpile from this weekend and additional support has been promised for staff in checking their PPE is being used correctly to keep them safe.

There will also be increased testing of symptomatic residents and care home staff or any family member showing symptoms to allow them to return to work if they are clear of the virus.

 

A Scottish Government spokesperson said the Health Secretary had regular calls with the RCN and that government was “absolutely determined” all health & social care staff would get the right personal protective equipment: 

“Over the last few weeks, over 75 million items of PPE have been delivered to hospitals in Scotland providing care for COVID-19 cases and other conditions. We have recently provided eight weeks’ supply of PPE to GPs in Scotland, and more than 14 million items of PPE have been distributed to social care since the triage helpline for that sector launched on 19 March.

“We are continuously looking to improve the supply and distribution of the protective equipment. This includes pressing current suppliers to increase production levels and identifying new suppliers.  We have also introduced improved systems for supplying PPE to hospitals, including a streamlined ordering system for all staff, and we will enable PPE supplies to be delivered directly to care homes– helping to ensure supply meets demand as quickly as possible. 

“NHS National Services Scotland is providing Boards with additional support to ensure that staff are fitted with masks correctly before carrying out their duties.

“We have set up an email where healthcare workers with concerns can contact us directly. There are also established routes for health boards to make direct contact with National Procurement to place urgent requests.”

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