ITV news reports that hospices could run out of essential personal protective equipment “within days” because providers of end of life care are being denied access to government supplies of PPE.
ITV News has learned deliveries of PPE to hospices have all but stopped as they struggle to access affordable supplies.
Hospices are being quoted up to twenty six times more for surgical masks than NHS suppliers, leaving them unable to place orders and quickly running out. The PPE crisis comes as the number of patients being cared for by hospices trebled in April as a result of coronavirus.
ITV News has found the sector is now caring for 24,000 people a day – three times more than the same period last year.
“Hospices will run out of this within days”, said Tracey Bleakley, CEO of Hospice UK.
For full story see ITV News, 29 April 2020