Protective gowns out stock despite Hancock’s promise this morning
National supplies of a key item of personal protective equipment (PPE) are about to run out across the country.
The Department of Health has issued a bulletin to front-line hospitals that protective gowns will be out of stock, in spite of Health Secretary Matt Hancock assuring viewers this morning that 50,000 gowns were going out to health workers today.
On a move that has been seen frequently throughout this crisis, Public Health England has lowered the safety and hygiene bar to accommodate Tory failure, telling health staff they can reuse gowns:
Yet again the Tories have lied to the British people about their actions and provision- and both front-line health workers and those they treat are endangered by them.
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It is shame for the government of the fifth/sixth richest country in the world..
WTF aren’t the British people angry about the lies and deception of our bastards in government. In and other civilised countries such lies and plain incompetence would have resulted in riots. What is wrong with the UK?
Well that would be a really clever idea, wouldn’t it?
Riots usually end up with people in A&E, whether rioters, innocent bystanders, or police, at a time when hospitals are already critically overstretched, while adding even more pressure to struggling NHS staff!
Excellent way to maybe spread the virus further, too!
I’m sure they’d be really grateful for that. wouldn’t they?
No nothing ever happens after a Riot ,just look at the pol tax riots and the Peoples democracy movement in Moreland,, ,,Thatcher dropped the Tax and Catholics got the vote and access to housing and jobs.People sometimes have to respond when backed into a corner,otherwise we would have to rely on our knight of the Realm and her majesty ……Opposition.? .🤣
We are in emperors new clothes territory, getting the govt and the opposition we deserve. 2021 likely to see Iraq mk 2 led by Biden and his poodle Starmer; don’t forget Starmer is one of key reasons assange remains locked up; his silence on the outrages perpetrated on health staff and our most vulnerable citizens during this corona crisis exposes his agenda loud and clear
Do we actually have a Shadow Health Minister? Why isn’t he or she ripping into the govt about this? Why isn’t Labour offering leadership? It’s not as if there isn’t a huge vacuum to be filled.
Liars and cheats. The main casualties here – other than health professionals, their patients, families and all of us – are the compliant press and BBC. They act like propagandist to incompetent spivs.
It’s occurred to me a dozen times that the NHS used to launder its PPE and sterilise its instruments.
Laundered gowns and even alcohol-sprayed masks could be re-used by the same person with close to 100% safety if bagged individually, marked with the user’s name/date of use and stored for a couple of weeks I think. By that time any contra-indications should be known.
Not ideal I admit but 99% better than no PPE – unfortunately Hancock’s not the kind of person who can think out of the box – or at all apparently, given that he keeps tripping over his own lies whenever he’s asked about PPE.
Let’s face facts – he’s an imbecile who’s never going to provide for the NHS or other carers in anything like adequate numbers.
David, that was (shockingly 25 to 30) years ago, Laundry services, catering, cleaning were all in-house. Mid 1990s the outsourcing was already in progress under the guise of “rationalising”. Translation – wash dirty hospital laundry at another hospital many miles away. Build a laundry. Demolish it within 3 years. Outsource to a private company.
Synchronicity that you mention it now though it crossed your mind before. David i was chatting with another professional this very morning. We were reminiscing that the uniforms were already tagged with our names. You would put it into canvas like skips. And as long ago as 1995, we each had a card that activated an automated machine to return your uniform / scrubs, all ironed etc on a hanger!!! 1995 in NHS HOSPITALS!!!
Regarding equipment, many instruments and stuff were autoclaved and used again when I was a child. Syringes etc, were not single use. However, the above reminiscences do not excuse the criminal negligence of Johnson, Cummings and Hancock. Furthermore you cannot magic up infrastructure and habits demolished decades ago. As a student i remember thinking, even then, what a waste!!! I remember seeing things being reused by medical staff as a child. Being precocious listeners we were able to hear the adults chatting about professional matters. The wastage seemed so shortsighted. Neither good for the budget nor the environment.
My dad’s brother was the chief public health inspector in another country, so again one could marvel at his experiences here and there. In lots of “theres”, it was standard practise to launder and autoclave. AND battles to instil the need for stringent standards in wet markets, sounded extremely interesting. Now in 2020 i would LOVE to hear my uncle’s thoughts on this pandemic. He died two years ago aged 93.
But back to point, this very day Cuba survives the evil sanctions by reusing equipment and in-house hospital laundries i expect. Yet still, their health outcomes for decades, have been superior to ours. NHS professionals used to go to Cuba to learn. We learnt some things but not self-sufficiency, resilience….CUBA. oh how some laugh. They are not laughing now.
And even more odd… just at the beginning of this year i saw autoclaves STILL being used to sterilise equipment.. in the the USA!!!
The Tories’ argument against re-use will be that the aprons, being plastic, can’t be ‘laundered’ and that masks couldn’t be guaranteed to maintain their integrity after ‘dry cleaning’ with alcohol – without comment on the permanent shortages that their criminal neglect are causing except to claim, falsely, that they’re “catching up with this unprecedented demand.”
Plastic aprons are in all likelihood sterilised in some way after manufacture, maybe by chemical or UVC treatment – and a day’s use wouldn’t prevent, say, low temperature washing and re-sterilisation if a plastic apron is otherwise undamaged.
I use hydrogen peroxide and ammonia to remove mould from camera lenses because nothing else works.
There’s always a way.
Hancock’s constant refrain is “You can’t compare the UK with X country – X is very different to the UK.”
If he was ever asked to explain what specific differences give X’s government their unfair advantage over the UK he’d have to feign a mental breakdown.
I agree with your proposal about the laundering of clothing but the problem now is that hospital laundry services have been privatised/ closed down so getting what would in the past been a fairly easy solution is now unfortunately much more difficult.
Setting up a laundry isn’t like setting up a hospital, which as we know has recently been scratch built in two weeks.
Laundries can be simple or sophisticated – I’d suggest small, simple and in the grounds of or close to each hospital or care facility. It would fit in a 40′ container. Think launderette rather than laundry. 20 washers, one big dryer, working 24/7 like the hospital.
Piece of piss.
David McNiven…..you can’t seriously expect Hancockto listen to anyone outside the club to very good advice that might help in A big way…IT might also upsetCummings scientific experiments
Ppe is useless, a virus cannot be caught, Dr Kaufman MD, Google Richie from Boston interviews him.
Richie from Boston = American youtuber, passionate about conspiration theories or a truther, as he calls himself on his twitter account
Dr Andrew Kaufman MD = forensic psychiatry specialist, natural healing consultant, and highly-qualified molecular biologist.
Hardly a ringing endorsement for either.
“Don’t trust me, check for yourselves” said the expert.
RichieFromBoston clearly weighed all the evidence thoroughly because Kaufman MD praised him for doing so before agreeing with him, right?
MD is, like, the most basic medical qualification in the US, Dude.
I only watched the first 30 seconds – did Kaufman MD list all his other qualifications, his specialist experience and all his peer-reviewed papers in The Lancet and his many eminent supporters at the CDC after that?
Because usually an interviewer will state an expert’s full qualifications up front so viewers know he’s competent in the field, right?
Vic, I have to ask – does it take training to achieve that special level of idiocy?
I’d list a whole range of viral infections of humans if it would help – can chickenpox not be caught? Smallpox? HIV? Flu? Is the common cold some sort of elaborate marketing scam from the manufacturers of tissues?
Definitely weapons-grade idiocy.
And not a dicky bird about it on BBC 6pm news.
Hmmm
It’s ok. The poor beggars working in care homes now have a magic green badge that will protect them.
Hatt Mancock loves his little badges. It reminds him what he’s supposed to be fucking over.
If he ever puts his suit jacket on inside out, he’ll get confused by the label and bankrupt M&S.
Belter
Jim,,,,I can still remember the old vim to badges off the used vim to bottle….also the odd star on my exercise book at primary school….Torys god help us..Glass beads and shiny things next.
Who needs visors, gloves gowns, shoe covers, face masks, bodybags when “carers” get a badge?
Who needs ventilators, when even sick Boris Johnson claps and cheers every Thursday? The empty hot air from clapping and cheering, does it ventilate dying patients? Banging pots & pans, does that keep crash patients alive?
Surely Nurses, Doctors and all in the NHS need to be told to use PPE as a “Precious resource”. Thanks Hancock. Sorry to be so wasteful Hancock. Everyone make noises again next Thursday. Hancock’s badge and a SPECIAL medal / award, will save your life or that of your loved ones. Why not cheer two or even three days per week? Its a crises so why not all week?
Applause is touching. But NOISE does not save a patient gasping for air. More horrific deaths are happening and will continue to SPREAD THROUGHOUT the country, without protective equipment.
Show your gratitude by writing to Boris Johnson. Ask him, why has the government failed to prepare since 2016 warnings, 2019 warnings, January 2020 warnings, February pleadings, March PLEADING ➕ Matt Hancock’s and Boris Johnson’s own promises THROUGHOUT MARCH to date.
That would be fitting gratitude from a grateful public.
Thanks 🌹🌹🌹
Face masks stop you infecting people,
No one comes into the country or leaves unless tested
Drive through testing by invitation is a good move
Less vulnerable groups can return to normal whilst observing social distancing rules will support the increase in herd immunity
Vaccine, anyones guess 6 months to 2 years
Every day we learn a bit more from this global pandemic, I’m more worried about agriculture and getting crops out of the ground
It’s not about ‘now’ – the issues with PPE go back to previous policy decisions :
1. The abandonment of local manufacturing capacity in pursuit of cheaper alternatives.
2. The barmy dissociation from Europe and ‘paddle your own leaky canoe’ impulse.
RH, 1. ✅ but all during the decades of closer and closer union. No? re 2. ❌ How’s Italy doing? and Spain? They had a struggle to get PPE from Germany. No?
Clement Atlee predicted EXACTLY that EU membership would DECIMATE our manufacturing industry. Atlee was right. No? Jeremy used to agree with Tony Benn and Atlee. No? 🌹🌹🌹
ps TO BE CLEAR ⚠️⚠️⚠️re my reveries of the pasts, in response to david mc niv,, i am in no way endorsing nor recommending the sterilising of the flimsy plastic aprons or gowns provided by Tory wrecked NHS by any means. A sturdy durable flexible full body gown could be sterilised, but The cheap nasty Tory Tat is definitely not reusable for ANY infectious disease, much less this DREADFUL Covid-19.
On no account would i recommend the reuse of those. Even in the 1990s we would stick to accepted infection control standards ie dispose of aprons and gloves after each use / patient, in an hazardous waste bin at the entrance of EACH isolated patient. This protects the patients, the staff, colleagues, and ALL contacts friend, foe or stranger.
TORIES LIKE JOHNSON, CUMMINGS, DUNCAN SMITH, HANCOCK and all others of TORY ideology refuse to value the protection of PRECIOUS LIVES.
🌹🌹🌹
But the choice right now isn’t between
“accepted infection control standards ie dispose of aprons and gloves after each use / patient, in an hazardous waste bin at the entrance of EACH isolated patient”
and re-use of PPE ….. is it?
The choice at present is between NO PROTECTION AT ALL and re-use.
Oh, and by the way, what destroyed our manufacturing industry – to be “DECIMATED” is to be reduced by only 1/10th – wasn’t the EU, it was competition from the far east.
That and smug, incompetent, self-satisfied British managers who thought cheap Japanese shit would always be inferior – so they had nothing to worry about and could go back to playing golf while Birmingham burned.
And then the Honda Benly pissed all over the Triumph Bonneville up to 90mph and the Honda 50 outsold everything else on the planet.
Memory lapse – it was the 305cc Honda CB77 I was thinking of that outpaced the 650cc Bonneville, not the little Benly.
David, contaminated protection is NO protection at all.
Think about it. Covid-19 survives much longer on plastic and stainless steel than on cardboard or news paper. Flimsy plastic Tory tatty aprons are grossly and criminally inadequate.
Furthermore, if used after dealing within 2 metres of Covid-19 patients, it is then DANGEROUS / NEGLIGENT to leave that space with the contaminated apron, gown, gloves and shoe covers, as it will contaminate the rest of the staff & hospital. Same applies to other care settings. Think about it David McNiven. Thanks🌹🌹🌹
“David, contaminated protection is NO protection at all.”
At no time did I suggest using “contaminated protection,” as you knew perfectly well.
Dissolving/disrupting the lipid bilayer by washing with soap and water destroys the virus on hands. Washing gowns and aprons would also destroy the virus.
Alcohol would be as effective on hands as soap and water if coverage could be as thorough as it can be with soap and water. Sprayed from every angle on masks suspended from a conveyor, alcohol would destroy all virus.
Time outside a host, included in the process I outlined, also destroys the virus.
My measures would be thorough, effective and available NOW.
Admittedly not as effective as the free supply of unlimited PPE which you compared them to, but free supply won’t be available for months if ever – so fuck off and take your false comparisons with you, you pathetic, deceitful, superficial little prick.
Once you fall behind with supplies in any industry it will clog up the running of the company, when you don’t have any recognised logistical process or in fact any form of system it causes chaos and that is what we have here, this disfunctional Government has been slow to organise, have found a supply route difficult because they were late at the party which in turn has left our frontline staff bereft of sufficient protection and fearful for their lives, They are of course doing their best to cast off any blame but they have put our whole country in jeopardy
It is a bit of a vicious circle at the moment. Not enough plastic PPE then the cloth gowns have to be changed more often. As highlighted contracts for laundry are often outsourced to private contractors. These companies use the minimum number of staff possible to deliver the contract but because more gowns are being used they cannot keep up with the supply of the laundered gowns. There is a major risk of cross contamination between patients if they are using the same PPE or unlaundered gowns as protection.
This regime are not even attempting to supply proper PPE .Dont believe for one minute that the Torys are fools and don’t give them a get out of jail clause by excusing a planned euthanasia experiment for the on going plans to reshape society across the western world.We may wake up one day to a Society far more controlled than anything from Orwells1984.Do not assume that this regime have any interest in your Society.
The week is when the government’s chickens came home to roost, and you can hear Hancock’s empty PPE boxes rattle from a thousand yards away. Meanwhile, his lord and master, Boriski, has his feet up, swilling champagne, not in no. 10, but miles away in his country retreat. The buck stops with the bloated, drug-taking Russian, and it’s time he was weedled out to face the music. Why just shoot his teaboy?