The Guardian reports that for the first time in the current crisis, hospital leaders have directly attacked the government over the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) after a desperately needed consignment of surgical gowns that had been announced by ministers failed to arrive.
In an unprecedented intervention, which hospital leaders privately say is the result of “intense frustration and exasperation”, the organisations representing NHS trusts in England urged ministers to “just focus on what we can be certain of” after weeks of “bitter experience” with failed deliveries.
Two organisations that represent hospital bosses, the NHS Confederation and NHS Providers, spoke out amid continuing alarm that shortages of equipment will soon have disastrous effects on the frontline, with representatives of intensive care staff warning on Sunday that the critical shortage of PPE could lead to some people refusing to continue working there.
Full story in The Guardian, 19 April 2020