Hancock’s Statement that the NHS did not Face a National Shortage of PPE - Untrue

The chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing, said:

“Nursing staff who were put in harm’s way because they could not access proper protective equipment will find this claim deeply insulting.” She added that reports from the National Audit Office, and the Commons public accounts committee and health and social care committee also directly contradicted what Hancock was claiming.

Dolin Bhagawati, from the medical group Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK), said Hancock’s comment that the NHS did not face a national shortage of PPE during the first wave of the pandemic “is disgustingly disrespectful to the memory of frontline colleagues who died from Covid-19 while raising concerns about inadequate PPE”.

He said frontline staff did not imagine having to provide their own makeshift protective equipment, “raising our concerns for weeks only for them to be ignored”.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan – an A&E doctor – said: “It is an insult to claim there was no shortage of PPE. Many frontline workers had to ration protective equipment, putting themselves at risk.

“Lots of it was inadequate and poorly fitting, and some NHS staff had to make gowns themselves from bin bags. The fact is, it was a smash-and-grab for Tory donors and friends. And protecting workers who were putting themselves in harm’s way to look after people seems to have been an afterthought.”

Full story at The Guardian