Doctors and health workers criticized the British government on Saturday for suggesting that gowns used to protect them while treating coronavirus patients could be re-used, as supplies run low across the country.
Britain is at or near the peak of an outbreak of the coronavirus in which more than 14,000 people have already died – the fifth highest national death toll of a pandemic linked to at least 150,000 deaths worldwide.
NEW RULES WILL BE APPLIED
On Friday the government issued new guidance to hospitals, setting out that alternatives to fluid-repellent full length gowns may need to be used, including reusable gowns or even long sleeved laboratory coats.
“This guidance is a further admission of the dire situation that some doctors and healthcare workers continue to find themselves in because of government failings,” said Rob Harwood, Consultants Committee chairman at the British Medical Association – the trade union for doctors.
“If it’s being proposed that staff reuse equipment, this must be demonstrably driven by science and the best evidence – rather than availability – and it absolutely cannot compromise the protection of healthcare workers.”
A health department spokesman said the new guidance was to ensure that staff knew what to do to minimize risk if shortages did occur. They said the new rules remained in line with international standards.