RCN responds to latest PHE guidance on considerations for acute PPE shortages

Responding to the guidance, RCN Chief Executive and General Secretary, Dame Donna Kinnair, said: “This guidance was developed without full and formal consultation with the Royal College of Nursing. It is unacceptable that any healthcare setting in the UK does not provide PPE as required by HSE and set out in the existing guidance. Only sound scientific evidence or safety concerns should change the guidance. We have written to the HSE in the strongest terms to voice our concerns. Nursing staff need to be afforded proper protection full stop.”
Helen Whyley, Director RCN Wales, added: “Our members are anxious and distressed. PPE protects both patients and staff. The Welsh Government must do everything in its power to ensure our nursing staff have the PPE they need to provide care in every setting.
Any attempt to weaken the guidance without a sound scientific basis for doing so is unacceptable. We call on the Welsh Government to protect the nursing staff of Wales."