Recommendation 25

Staff representative organisations ran surveys in which frontline staff reported not having the PPE they needed. The British Medical Association, the Royal College of 37 Qq 11, 17, 37–38, 66–67, 121, 123 38 Qq 11–12, 17, 23–24, 37, 66, 123; House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, Readying the NHS and social care for the COVID-19 peak, Session 2019–2021, HC 405, 29 July 2020, para 9 39 Qq 71–72 131, 194 40 Qq 14–16, 29–33, 39 41 Letter from Department of Health & Social Care, 15 January 2021 COVID-19: Government procurement and supply of Personal Protective Equipment 19 Nursing, the Royal College of Physicians and Unison ran surveys that showed at least 30% of participating doctors, nurses and care workers reported having insufficient PPE, even in high-risk settings.42 Among the survey findings was that 51% of nurses reported being asked to reuse single-use items of PPE in a high-risk setting; 33% of Black, Asian or other minority ethnic (BAME) doctors felt they did not have the PPE they needed, compared with 14% of white doctors; and 49% of BAME nurses reported being fit tested for a respirator mask compared with 74% of white nurses.43