BMA Blog - PPE: A right to protection

Summary

This blog for the British Medical Association (BMA) by Tim Tomkin looks at growing frustration among doctors that the national guidelines concerning the use of respirators in Covid-19 infection control are still not robust enough, and do not fulfil legal health and safety obligations.

He highlights examples of trusts that have led the way in implementing robust personal protective equipment (PPE) policies to protect staff, and research that demonstrates that the use of FFP3 masks reduces infection rates in staff on Covid-19 wards. He calls for more to be done to provide adequate PPE for staff across the health service, including GPs.