PPE delivery relief for Nottinghamshire front line care workers

The diminishing stock of PPE for front line carers has been significantly replenished with enough equipment to last around two weeks.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Serious concerns had been raised by bosses and carers about the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) reserves, with the county council operating with just two or three days worth of stock.

However a large shipment has now arrived for carers to use.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Melanie Brooks, head of adult social care at the council, cautioned that it didn’t mean they were ‘out of the woods’, but said it was a ‘huge relief’.

More PPE equipment has been delivered to Nottinghamshire County CouncilMore PPE equipment has been delivered to Nottinghamshire County Council
More PPE equipment has been delivered to Nottinghamshire County Council

There are essentially two seperate reserves in Nottinghamshire – one held by the county council for carers, and another held by the local resilience forum (LRF) of which the council is a part,

Both received deliveries last week – the LRF from the Government and the council from several sources, including local manufacturers.

Mrs Brooks said: “We’ve had local manufacturers supply us with face masks particularly – they were my biggest concern, they were the things that were keeping me up at night – so we’ve had those and the LRF delivery has had a lot of items, specifically gloves and aprons.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It doesn’t solve the NHS problems around gowns, but certainly across adult social care for carers, care homes, funeral directors, volunteers working in our hubs, it puts us in a really good position

“We’re expecting to be okay for two weeks now, which is just brilliant, it’s really good news.

“It’s brilliant to get that assurance out there, because in the media there have been terrible stories about care homes where people have been wearing bin liners and all sorts of terrible things that we haven’t seen in Nottinghamshire at al.

“But considering on April 28 we only had a couple of days’ worth I didn’t expect to be in this position.

“It’s very reassuring.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“What I don’t want to do is have a massive celebration and give the impression that we’re okay for the duration because, as we know, this pandemic is going to be with us for some time, but it does feel like good news to me.

“We’ve been living hand to mouth, and I think the supply chain is still very shaky.

“It’s still a new supply chain with a lot of new suppliers.

“It’s not what we used to have where we would have months of stock, but given where we’ve been it feels like such a relief.

“We’ve been overwhelmed with small businesses offering to help and some of that supply chain is coming through now.”

“The LRF still has problems and it’s not like Nottinghamshire as a whole is out of the woods.

“It just means for social care for carers and care homes we are in a better position.”