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Help to get PPE to all who need it

(19 Posts)
Ajs67 Mon 20-Apr-20 05:19:49

Hi
I'm sure many of you have watched the news horrified to find that the government is not able to obtain enough PPE to protect the NHS and other key workers
Allocating blame is not going to fix it
Immediate action needs to be taken to do something about this now
PPE needs sourcing from somewhere while the government gets its act together

Would it be possible to set up a nationwide voluntary group collecting and distributing PPE obtained from volunteers?
To start a crowd funding scheme for it?
To contact the suppliers who approached the government initially offering to help?

And by some means or other provide a back up to kit out staff when the government hits supply problems

Failing to provide protective kit to staff is so wrong. They are losing their lives because of it

Please can anyone reading this help to get this problem sorted?

Ajs67 Mon 20-Apr-20 05:22:36

Please is there anyone out there with superb logistical and communicating and planning skills who wants to help save lives now

Whitewavemark2 Mon 20-Apr-20 06:33:25

I would if I could

coggie Mon 20-Apr-20 06:38:33

I agree with your plea but shouldn't the armed forces be involved in the sourcing and distribution? They seem to be able to manage it elsewhere.

Oopsadaisy3 Mon 20-Apr-20 07:50:56

DD 2 starts in that role from today in the West Country, so many people willing to help but no coordination, she will be setting up a website to enable all volunteers, producers of scrubs, PPEs etc. to sign up, she will then try to put it all together to get the correct people organised to get equipment to the places that need it most. but first she has to set up a web page, not easy or quick, but it’s a start. So many people willing to help, but no structure yet in place.

coggie Mon 20-Apr-20 13:40:00

No structure yet in place? Appalling.

Eglantine21 Mon 20-Apr-20 13:55:12

Armed forces have been delivering PPE since 24th March. It has been flown in direct to Air Force bases and distributed from there.

paddyanne Mon 20-Apr-20 13:59:03

We in Scotland had a huge amount delivered yesterday from China...some idiot on FB says we should send it back as she's not buying ANYTHING chinese ! Apparently she'd rather see people die from CV they could have avoided if they had the right PPE .The world is peopled with idiots.

SueDonim Mon 20-Apr-20 14:04:47

Doesn’t the NHS have managers who do all this stuff? Where are they?

Eglantine21 Mon 20-Apr-20 14:12:04

There is a structure that’s quite easy to find online
It gives a list of who needs PPE.

Then:
Use normal resourcing
If unavailable contact Local Resilience who should have supplies to distribute
If LFR have insufficient and your stocks are less than 72 hours contact the National Emergency Resourcing for immediate delivery by armed forces.

It was set up just before lockdown.

I’m assuming most of the volunteers will be making scrubs or cloth masks not the PPE used in ICU.

If these could be collected and distributed to care settings it might ease the pressure on medical settings.

There are already a lot of “volunteer’ web pages for making scrubs.

Best to check you’re not duplicating before setting up another one?

Bitemytongue Tue 21-Apr-20 07:22:15

Eglantine21 is right, that structure is in place and working very well. I am a project manager and many of us have been moved to managing the CV19 response. We receive daily deliveries and deliver to the care industry 7 days per week. We are in London, I do believe it depends on what area you live in. Health are doing the same thing.

The only issue we have is you don't have full control of the incoming stock as it comes quickly but as only part of a larger order. The volumes required are huge and suppliers are struggling to keep up.

sodapop Tue 21-Apr-20 09:11:16

I thought they had put the man who organised the Olympic Games in charge of logistics.
I can't remember his name. The Armed Forces are already assisting with delivery etc.

Elegran Tue 21-Apr-20 09:38:23

PaddyAnn Do you have a link for that delivery to Scotland of PPE from China? I would tell worried shielding neighbours and share it on FB, if I could only find anything about it!

wendyann23 Tue 21-Apr-20 09:57:37

Maybe in the future we should not be so reliant on PPE coming from China and manufacture more in this country.

Griselda Tue 21-Apr-20 10:15:10

Yesterday on our local (East Midlands) news the managing director of a company which produces good quality women's fashions said that he had contacted the NHS offering to produce scrubs. He had no useful reply. Frustrated, he contacted local hospitals and is producing scrubs for them He bought the cloth from another local, just eight miles away, supplier who wants to try another type of cloth which is genuinely re-usable. The jury is still out on that one. I don't understand what is going wrong. This company has the machinery and the skills to produce much more than they are doing and it would be much better than the staff being furloughed as they are at present.
I wouldn't be surprised if things like this were repeated in many other parts of the country.

Elegran Tue 21-Apr-20 10:28:07

Still can't find the delivery to Scotland, but there are deliveries happening to the UK, despite the reports in the Sun, Express, Mirror and Sunday Times of shipments being diverted to Germany en route becuse they offered a higher price.,which had my elderly neighbours very frightened.

www.expressandstar.com/news/uk-news/2020/04/14/virgin-atlantic-plane-brings-hundreds-of-thousands-of-ppe-items-from-china-to-uk/

aircargoeye.com/iag-iberia-network-clocks-up-10-million-face-masks/

Eglantine21 Tue 21-Apr-20 10:33:22

The NHS is managing health issues. I don’t know who he contacted but they may have been swamped with medical issues and so did not pass the message on to the dedicated supply team that has been set up under Gov. Uk

This is quite easy to find by simply typing in “How can your business help?” You then answer some questions on line about what you can supply and are contacted quickly.

This information has been given frequently at daily briefings and can easily be accessed on the Internet.

I know the Government supply team would be delighted to hear from him.

Daisymae Tue 21-Apr-20 10:53:07

Our local hospital did have patterns but have run out. There's local Facebook groups who are organising collection etc. The hospital has a spec of the items that they want, sizes etc. So I guess that would be a good place to start - check what's needed in your area

coggie Tue 21-Apr-20 16:01:21

The NHS is managing health issues

Not in my area ,constant begging by staff on fb for equipment.

And I mean constant and I mean begging.