Coronavirus: Sue Ryder charity issues urgent plea for more personal protective equipment (PPE)

"I have a responsibility to keep patients, staff and visitors safe and without adequate PPE that is not possible"

A charity providing end-of-life care to people in West Berkshire has said it will run out of personal protection equipment (PPE) within days.

Sue Ryder, which runs the Duchess of Kent Hospice in Reading and a palliative care hub in Newbury, has said it is in critical need of PPE, with stocks set to imminently run out.

The charity provides palliative and day therapy care to patients with life limiting conditions. Sue Ryder employs more than 1,000 doctors and nurses and is currently providing palliative care for coronavirus patients as they end their lives

The charity said it was being forced to purchase PPE through private companies, which was poor quality and in most cases ineffective.

It said that without immediate changes to the PPE supply chain it will have to cease providing care for dying people across the country, which would put significant additional strain on the NHS.

Sue Ryder deputy director of nursing Jane Turner told Newburytoday: "The biggest concern we have for Duchess of Kent and Newbury is the lack of PPE. We are starting to run out.

"The difficulty that we have is that we don't have a very consistent supply chain. We are having to approach private companies that have been recommended by the Government and putting orders in but we are not getting confidence in the system of when we will receive these deliveries. I might put in an order today but I don't know when I'm going to receive them.

"That's really anxiety provoking and it's really challenging to try and manage that constant flow of PPE that our amazing nurses and doctors need to deliver care to all our patients."

Mrs Turner said that private companies were doing their best but they were under pressure, saying "everybody is trying their best but some of it is not working".

She said that staff were becoming anxious about a lack of PPE.

"We need to protect them and keep them safe and the impact on patients is we don't have the right equipment and we might not be able to look after this patient. That's a point we never want to get to but we have to keep staff safe, and, by keeping staff safe, we are keeping patients safe.

"We are still only have a couple of days left of PPE. We are spending all our time trying to source new suppliers or contact suppliers we have got".

Mrs Turner said that staff were trying different approaches to providing care where possible through technology.

Community groups and schools have rallied to provide PPE for care homes and hospitals. But Mrs Turner said she was unaware of any equipment being donated to Sue Ryder's Newbury hub at West Berkshire Community Hospital or the Duchess of Kent Hospice.

The charity has set up an emergency coronavirus appeal on its website as the Covid-19 crisis impacts is finances.

Mrs Turner said that anyone wanting to donate PPE could contact the Duchess of Kent Hospice or its Newbury hub.

When asked how much PPE the hospice used each day, Mrs Turner said: "It's difficult to put a figure on it but the figure is currently we have only a few days left. That's the thing causing great anxiety and stress and it's unclear when that delivery is going to happen.

"We have to make sure that the quality meets all the correct standards as well. We need to receive all that information before we place the order and we have had to not order things because they didn't meet the required standard".

One of Sue Ryder's Hospice directors has penned an emotional plea to her local MP.

It says: "I have worked in healthcare as a nurse and a leader for many years and never experienced anything like this.

"I never know when the next batch of supplies are coming, or what will be in that batch, I never know what the day will bring. We can go from no cases of coronavirus to three within a few hours. To see a young nurse with tears in her eyes above her mask is heart wrenching.

"As the hospice director, I have a responsibility to keep patients, staff and visitors safe and without adequate PPE that is not possible.

"We provide PPE for visitors when it is needed but this further depletes our supplies. We are doing everything we can to lessen the footfall, so visiting is restricted to one visitor when someone is at the end of their life.

"I had to watch a grown man cry as he left the hospice not knowing when he would see his mother again."