West Derby Labour MP ‘swamped’ by calls from desperate NHS staff, teams up with charity to take direct action to help front-line staff let down by government
A Labour MP has responded to desperate cries for help from front-line staff endangered by the government’s failure to provide ‘PPE’ – personal protective equipment – to protect them from the coronavirus.
Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne says he has been ‘swamped’ by calls from desperate paramedics and hospital staff who have inadequate PPE to prevent them being infected by those they treat – with protective goggles and visors in especially short supply.
Byrne has teamed up with a local man who had started making protective visors on his home 3D printer and has agreed to start producing goggles as well for the desperate NHS staff.
The project is being part-funded by the Fans Supporting Foodbanks (FSF) charity that Byrne co-founded, with more funding expected from unions.
Byrne told the SKWAWKBOX:
A man over the water (on the Wirral peninsula across from Liverpool) who’s just been furloughed had started making visors and we’re sorting out designs for goggles. He’s only got one printer, but I’ve got other contacts who have similar kit so we’ll be setting up a little supply chain and ramping up as fast as we can.
Fans Supporting Foodbanks is putting some money into it and I’m talking to the unions about getting on board to help, but really we need a cottage industry of people with 3D printers, so if others with printers want to come forward that would be brilliant.
It’s like the ethos of Fans Supporting Foodbanks – we couldn’t rely on this government to feed our people and this is very much similar. The lack of PPE is a disgrace.
If you have, or have access to, a 3D printer and want to help in the effort to protect our front-line heroes – wherever your location – email ian.byrne.mp@parliament.uk or message FSF via its Facebook page.
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If all the resources and ambition of Govt were directed at providing the relatively easy PPE you’d expect progress but the fact there is none and no explanation means ‘herd immunity’ is still policy. Presumably the cabinet right wingers and Cummings are sabotaging the official
Policy? While the cat is away…
“while the cat is away …” there are more tory cats … hundreds of them … on both benches. 🌹🌹🌹
WELL DONE IAN BYRNE 🌹🌹🌹
BBC News just cut away from Hancock’s answer to the question “Are you going to continue having physical meetings in an office with a dozen people Mr. Hancock?” – presumably the editor decided that the two minute musical intro to the 6 o’clock news was more important.
A major problem is looming. While HMG supposedly scours the world for medical equipment, what we have got is being used up at an unprecedented rate. Sure, we can make masks of a kind and gowns too, but ventilators and such? The government told us that we can now rule the waves, just like the Queen Vic of old, but the international competition for stuff, has beaten us. How long have we got Mr Hancock — 3 weeks, 4 weeks? No wonder the fat man ran away!