The Guardian reports that a survey conducted by The Royal College of Physicians has found that doctors working in the riskiest areas of UK hospitals with Covid-19 patients are finding it harder to get protective kit, despite ministerial pledges to solve the problem.
The Royal College of Physicians has condemned the apparently worsening availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) as “truly terrible” and warned that frontline staff’s lives are at risk as a result.
The survey found that among doctors performing aerosol-generating procedures (AGP), in which patients with the disease release droplets from their mouth, 37% cannot always access a visor to wear and 31% have not been able to obtain a full-length surgical gown. Both are key elements of the full PPE that NHS staff are advised to wear when participating in an AGP.
Full story in The Guardian, 27 April 2020