All hospital staff to wear masks and gloves at all times.

The green zones in the hospitals are not wearing masks. Whilst I agree frontline staff and red zones should be top priority in getting PPE, if we do not have capacity for all hospital staff to obtain this then staff should be allowed to wear self made masks (made by using government guidance) to be able to protect theirselves and their families. I work in lab within a Scotland NHS hospital and feel we are being overlooked and unable to protect ourselves and our families. Currently staff are being asked to use annual leave to ease social distancing due to our work load being down because much non urgent care was cancelled. As you ramp up operations, Labs such as mine will be required to be fully staffed to provide a service. Without protection you risk having staff shortages and a second peak with hospital staff. We work side by side with other labs testing for Covid and Mortuary staff dealing with Covid patients. We should at the very least be told to wear home made face coverings. This is just an example of my setting but I feel this should be used for all settings (schools etc).

Why the contribution is important

It has been proven that when social distancing is impossible that face coverings lowers the risk of spread. Without protection a second peak including many key workers could potentially happen whilst easing restrictions. In my setting the importance is that patients who have already received operations for Cancer diagnosis and treatment may not be able to get their sample processed due to staff shortages. This could delay treatment which is of utmost importance. To run a service properly we work within a close vicinity all day. This goes for all essential services in the hospital but also in other settings, I.e schools.

Red zone staff and yellow zones should get appropriate PPE supplied.
Green zones should be told to use homemade face coverings and gloves (if their is no capacity for proper supplies).

Failing this the idea of ramping up services will not only fail but risk another peak within an essential community.

by cazmcnally on May 10, 2020 at 06:00PM

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