28th March 2020

The PPE debate is still raging.

I woke up to a message from my Mum this morning saying her order for masks had been cancelled, when she tried to re-order them the price had gone up by hundreds of pounds. Looks like I’m going to have to keep my fingers crossed the NHS provides me with the appropriate equipment, I’ve heard the Army are delivering stock to hospitals now, just depends what they are delivering though doesn’t it. There have been reports of staff being given out of date equipment which doesn’t meet WHO standards, that’s if they are even being given it at all.

I voiced my concerns to my new manager who assured me that the Trust was well equipped with the correct PPE. However with guidance changing like the wind, and other local Trusts posting on social media for donations of masks, goggles, visors etc, it doesn’t fill me with a great deal of confidence.

One thing I need to mention though, despite the fact it might make me unpopular, is the images I’ve seen shared in the the media of staff on the frontline. I know these are a massive boost to morale and send such an important message, mainly the “we are here for you, stay at home for us” campaign but also photos in news sources. In so many of these I have seen staff sat on hospital floors posing for pics, or with masks etc on but their hair in a long ponytail, lanyard dangling about, jewellery on etc.

In one there were literally five senior members of staff on the floor of an INFECTIOUS DISEASES ward and the domestic stood with his mop inches away.

I hate to be a party pooper and I’m all for keeping spirits up, but rolling around on hospital floors when there’s a pandemic on the go really isn’t a great idea. Especially when we’re fighting for better protective measures.

The last thing I’m going to get on my soapbox about is half the government announcing they have Corona.

Not all that surprising when their plan was ‘Herd Immunity’, and Boris bragged about how he recently visited a hospital with Covid positive patients and shook everyone’s hand. Maybe that’s what helped to prompt a change in regulations, they’ve become perfect evidence of the risks of being a key worker without adequate protection.

Trump thinks that hospitals usually only have one ventilator and is bemused as to why he’s had a request to pull 30,000 out of his arse. What I don’t understand is when we’ve had SARS, MERS and Ebola over recent years, why haven’t we stockpiled equipment as a contingency. We should have been so much better prepared for this, it’s embarrassing.

I feel like we’re living in some sort of alternate universe, surely this can’t be real life?

Who put these people in power for gods sake??

Oh wait.

‘We’ did.

Nice one.