Government faces backlash after calling protective equipment a ‘precious resource’

No protective equipment is more important than the lives of healthcare workers, a nursing union has said, after ministers said it should be treated as a "precious resource".

Health Secretary Matt Hancock had said there is enough personal protective equipment (PPE) to go round if it is used in line with official guidance, and his goal is that "everyone" working in a critical role gets what they need.

But the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) dismissed any suggestions that healthcare staff were "abusing or overusing" PPE.

RCN general secretary Dame Donna Kinnair told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday that no PPE was "more precious a resource than a healthcare worker's life, a nurse's life, a doctor's life".

Speaking later on BBC Breakfast Dame Donna said that every day she was hearing from nurses saying they did not have enough protective equipment.

Dame Donna added: "I take offence actually that we are saying that healthcare workers are abusing or overusing PPE.

"I think what we know is, we don't have enough supply and not enough regular supply of PPE.

"This is the number one priority nurses are bringing to my attention, that they do not have adequate supply of protective equipment."

The BMA medical union warned on Friday that PPE supplies in London and Yorkshire are at "dangerously low levels".

Mr Hancock acknowledged distributing masks, gloves, aprons and hand sanitiser to frontline workers is requiring a "Herculean logistical effort".

He said: "There's enough PPE to go around, but only if it's used in line with our guidance.

"We need everyone to treat PPE like the precious resource that it is.

"That means only using it when there's a clinical need, and not using more than is needed."

The row comes as the Government is urging the public to stay at home over Easter, after the UK recorded its highest daily death toll from coronavirus since the outbreak began.

The latest figures from the Department of Health and Social Care showed that as of Thursday there were 8,958 hospital deaths from the disease – an increase of 980 on the previous day.

But a British scientist has said that a vaccine to coronavirus could be ready as soon as September.

Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at Oxford University, told The Times on Saturday that she was "80% confident" that the vaccine being developed by her team would work, with human trials due to begin in the next fortnight.

She said: "I think there's a high chance that it will work based on other things that we have done with this type of vaccine.

"It's not just a hunch and as every week goes by we have more data to look at... I would go for 80%, that's my personal view."

The Government is urging people to stay at home over Easter amid fears that with continuing good weather forecast, people would flock to parks and beaches and undermine its social distancing strategy.

At the daily No 10 press briefing on Friday, Mr Hancock acknowledged Easter would be a "test of the nation's resolve" but said the clear message from NHS staff battling to save desperately sick patients was "they need you to stay at home".

Meanwhile, Boris Johnson was continuing to recover following his discharge from the intensive care unit at St Thomas' Hospital where he has been receiving treatment for coronavirus.

The Prime Minister was said to be able do "short walks" between rests, although Downing Street refused to be drawn on how long he was expected to remain in hospital.

With the Government due to carry out the first three-week review of the lockdown measures next week, ministers are facing calls to explain how the restrictions will ultimately be lifted.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who is deputising for Mr Johnson, has said the Government's scientific advisory group for emergencies (Sage) would be studying the evidence but they would not be able to say more until the end of the week.

Downing Street declined to comment on reports in The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail that while ministers hoped restrictions such as the closure of schools and shops could lifted in early June, other social distancing measures might have to remain, potentially indefinitely or until a vaccine is found.

However, speaking at the No 10 press conference, the deputy chief medical officer for England, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, warned it was "premature" to think the outbreak had reached its peak.

While he said there were signs the "curve is bending" in terms of hospital admissions, he said it was still too soon to start lifting the lockdown.

"We are in a dangerous phase still," he said. "It's premature to say we are at a peak and the push we are making with social distancing just has to continue."