Doctors have warned on Monday that they could refuse to treat coronavirus patients to protect their own lives as hospitals are set to run out of PPE today.
So far eighty frontline NHS staff have sadly died from coronavirus and frustration and anger is mounting against the government.
84 tonnes of PPE including 400,000 gowns, face masks, gloves and other vital equipment was due to have arrived on Sunday from Turkey, but this is now delayed.
Some hospitals across the UK are already running near empty of PPE and it has been claimed that the NHS could rune out vital equipment today.
Dr Chaand Nagpul, BMA council chair said, “There are limits to the level of risk staff can be expected to expose themselves and their patients to.
“In the most extreme circumstances, if adequate protective measures are not in place, doctors can refuse to put themselves at risk of becoming infected, and inform their management to make alternative arrangements.”
Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents health service managers said, “This is very serious and makes a difficult situation worse.
“It would have been better had the government not made the announcement in the first place.
“It now looks more likely that supplies of gowns could run out in some places.”
The UK government sent over 270,000 pieces of PPE to China in February to help the country tackle coronavirus, the UK having depleted resources, The Sunday Times reported.
“But I think it’s important to stress two things there as well.
“The first thing is that the personal protection equipment that we sent to China was to help with the most extreme outbreak in Wuhan.
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