Shipment of 400,000 delayed protective gowns from Turkey deemed unusable

The shipment of 400,000 gowns from Turkey which was part of a delayed consignment of personal protective equipment (PPE) has been impounded in a warehouse after falling short of UK standards.

The personal protective equipment (PPE) was flown into the UK by the RAF last month, arriving three days late, but has been held in a government warehouse near Heathrow since, the Daily Telegraph said.

During mid-April, when coronavirus deaths in the UK were at their highest, the NHS required 150,000 gowns each day.

Cabinet minister Brandon Lewis said the gowns were “not be of the quality that we feel is good enough for our frontline staff”.

Speaking on Sky News, Mr Lewis said: “Well when we’re securing PPE from around the world you do it based on a set of standards that you’re looking to acquire to, but obviously once it’s here we check that it is good enough for what we want to use and in this instance some of this PPE turned out not to be good enough.”

“I think it is right that if we have got particular standards for what we want our frontline staff to be able to have access to we make sure we stick to that. If something isn’t right, if we’re not even sure about it then I think it is better to be safe and not use that product and stick with products we are confident are the right products and the right standards.”

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Source: ITV News, 7 May 2020