Coronavirus: 200,000 defective gowns recalled from NHS hospitals

Two hundred thousand defective gowns supplied to NHS hospitals have been recalled by the government because of fears they could leave staff at increased risk of coronavirus infection.

Hospitals have been told to check their stocks of personal protective equipment (PPE) to identify the Flosteril non-sterile gowns and quarantine them immediately.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said tests carried out on the gowns, which were delivered in June, had shown that they did not meet the fluid-resistance standards originally claimed by the manufacturer.

There may also be “inconsistencies” in the material used to make the gowns.

An estimated 200,000 gowns are thought to be in circulation within the NHS after 600,000 were supplied by the company Vannin Healthcare Global, which is registered in the Isle of Man.

Hospitals were told on Tuesday this week not to dispose of the gowns but to keep them for two weeks until they can be collected after 31 August.

It is another embarrassing blow for the government over the supply of PPE to hospitals – an issue that prompted major criticism during the height of the COVID-19 crisis, when many hospitals ran out of equipment.

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Source: The Independent, 15 August 2020