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Doctors and nurses have been urged by the government to reuse pieces of personal protective equipment and work without full-length gowns as the NHS faces “extreme shortages”.
Updated Public Health England guidance to NHS workers issued on Friday suggests staff should consider the “reuse of personal protective equipment” where necessary, even if designated by the manufacturer as a single-use product.
It states: “Where there are acute shortages of , and where it is safe to do so, the HSE [Health and Safety Executive] approves the sessional and reuse of PPE.
“Some of the PPE the NHS Covid-19 ensemble is designated by the manufacturers as being single use.
“However, the HSE recognises that some compromise is needed to optimise the supply of PPE in times of extreme shortages.”
The guidance had previously stipulated long-sleeved disposable fluid repellent gowns should be worn when treating Covid-19 patients.
But if the gowns are not available, clinical staff are now advised to wear “disposable, non-fluid repellent gowns or coveralls” or “washable surgical gowns”, with aprons, and to wash their forearms afterwards.
Earlier on Friday, health secretary Matt Hancock said he was not able to guarantee hospitals would have enough protective gowns to get them through the coming weekend.
He said he would “love to be able to wave a magic wand” and have enough PPE “fall from the sky in large quantities” but this was not possible due to a global shortage.
The government has been unable to say how much personal protective equipment is still lacking in the fight against coronavirus, as the number of NHS staff confirmed to have died of the illness continues to climb.
As of Thursday, 27 NHS staff are known to have died after contracting coronavirus.
Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth tweeted: “Hospitals set to ‘run out’ of gowns by Monday.
“Week after week we hear of problems in PPE getting to the frontline despite what ministers tell us at Downing Street press conferences.
“This ongoing failure needs fixing and ministers must explain how they will fix it urgently.”
A Department of Health spokesman said: “New clinical advice has been issued today to make sure that if there are shortages in one area, frontline staff know what PPE to wear instead to minimise risk.”