NURSING staff still don’t have access to vital equipment to protect them against coronavirus, a survey has found, while a quarter say concerns they have raised have not been addressed. 

A poll of Royal College of Nursing (RCN) members in Scotland found 69 per cent of respondents had raised concerns about personal protective equipment (PPE). 

Meanwhile, half said they did not have access to sufficient washing facilities, including showers, and 41% said they did not have access to suitable changing facilities.

The RCN said the situation is leading to increased stress. Almost half (46%) of all respondents, including those working in the most high-risk environments, said they had felt pressured to care for a patient without appropriate PPE as outlined in the current guidance.

Theresa Fyffe, director of RCN Scotland, said the responses to the survey “speak for themselves”. 

She said: “It’s fundamental to personal safety and effective infection control that nursing staff have the correct PPE and that it fits properly. 

“Incorrectly fitting PPE might not provide effective protection. 

“It’s also essential that they are trained in its proper use and have adequate changing and washing facilities.

“Our members are telling us this is not the case for everyone and the results support the concerns the RCN has been raising consistently during the pandemic.

“The Scottish Government has assured staff that a lot of hard work is being done to improve and secure supply, distribution and use of PPE. 

“These results show that there is still more to do. It’s time to make good on the promises that have been made to all nursing staff in the past few weeks.”

The RCN survey took place between April 10 and April 13, and 1,465 members who work in Scotland responded.

The poll found a quarter of those working in high-risk environments said they had not had their mask fit tested, and 31% had not had training in putting on and taking off PPE. 

Meanwhile, 47% of those working in high-risk environments and 36% in general care environments said they had been asked to reuse single-use equipment.

Of those who had raised concerns about PPE, 75% said their concerns had been fully or partially addressed.

Nicola Sturgeon was questioned over PPE provision during the Scottish Government’s daily Covid-19 press conference yesterday.

STV quoted one nurse on a ward with coronavirus patients who said she was “horrified” to go on shift with single-use PPE that had been worn by other nurses for three consecutive days.

The nurse described using hand sanitiser on paper towels to try to disinfect equipment.

Other nurses had reportedly walked off the ward due to their concerns.

Meanwhile, STV also raised reports of gowns being used at another hospital which Health Protection Scotland had said were not suitable.

The First Minister asked to be put in touch with the nurse who had raised concerns.

Ms Sturgeon said: “I would remind any health and care worker watching this, or if they have family members watching this, we have set up a dedicated email address so people can email in if they don’t have the PPE they need or have concerns about that.

“That is being overseen by ministers and again we will respond urgently.

“I and the [Health Secretary Jeane Freeman] have always said, and I’ll say it again, we are working on a day to day basis.

“There’s probably not an hour passes right now that [Ms Freeman] and I don’t talk about PPE, because this is so important.

“We will never stand up here and say it’s fixed and there is no more work to be done.

“The nature of this, the constraints on supply that we are facing globally, the need to make sure our distribution line always work properly, the need to respond if a particular hospital or a care home has particular demand that they need replenished more quickly...

“We will absolutely work to resolve all of these things and respond to any issues.”

Ms Freeman said she was aware of the issue around gowns.

She said: “The gowns are satisfactory in certain clinical situations but they have been issued to staff in other clinical situations where they are not the right equipment for that particular situation.”

She insisted Scotland’s national procurement service is now “on top of this” and ensuring the right gowns are issued in the right situations.

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