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Panorama 2020 E15
Transcript
00:00Tonight on Panorama, has the government failed to protect the NHS?
00:07We've been put on the front line, to use government terminology,
00:11but without front-line protection.
00:13And left staff on the Covid wards frightened for their lives.
00:17This is what you'd expect a little lady to wear.
00:20It's like a pinny. It's plastic.
00:23There you go. It does nothing.
00:27We reveal the mistakes that have put workers in danger.
00:31There's no excuse for not having adequate stockpiles
00:35to support the country when it faces a desperate crisis like this.
00:40And how the government downgraded protection standards
00:44as the virus swept the country.
00:46I feel incredibly passionate that no more people should suffer,
00:51that no more health workers should come to harm.
00:57Panorama
01:18Felix Khor has been an NHS nurse for 30 years.
01:23Now he's fighting for his life.
01:27He loved nursing and he loved people.
01:32He'd used the skill and the knowledge
01:36and his own personality to...
01:45..make other people's lives better.
01:49And he was always so happy when he felt he'd done a good job.
01:57Felix was on the Covid front line.
02:00He worked in A&E.
02:03The hospital says all staff had enough protection.
02:08But Felix didn't feel safe.
02:11He was angry because he'd been issued with two paper masks
02:17for a 12-hour shift.
02:19And he said, that's not enough.
02:21I want a separate mask for every patient I go into.
02:27Felix caught the virus last month.
02:31He's now on a ventilator in the hospital where he worked.
02:37People shouldn't go into work and become ill and be damaged.
02:42And that's what's happened to Felix.
02:48For weeks, the government has been dealing with criticism
02:52about stocks of Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE.
02:57It says it's delivered a billion items.
03:01But we've obtained documents from inside the supply chain
03:05that show the reality of what's been delivered
03:08in the past couple of months.
03:11They show that the government is counting items
03:14that you might not think of as PPE,
03:17such as cleaning equipment, waste bags,
03:20detergent and paper towels.
03:23More than half the items are surgical gloves.
03:26And in most cases, each individual glove is counted
03:30rather than pairs.
03:33The second biggest item is plastic aprons
03:36that offer limited protection.
03:39These documents show how much PPE has been sent
03:43to each hospital trust in England.
03:46I can see here the hospital trust in Southend.
03:49That's where Felix, the nurse who got Covid, that's where he worked.
03:53This column shows the number of gowns that have been delivered
03:56that the NHS staff need to wear.
03:59In the five weeks before Felix was hospitalised,
04:02the government delivered 360 gowns
04:05across the whole Mid and South Essex Trust.
04:08That's just ten a day.
04:10They had to buy more from other suppliers.
04:14This is the life-saving equipment we're talking about.
04:18The World Health Organisation said healthcare workers
04:21caring for Covid patients should wear a gown,
04:25gloves, face mask and eye protection.
04:39These are some visors that have been made on home-bought 3D printers.
04:43St Thomas Community have been making these for us
04:46and they're quite nice because you can actually see out of them.
04:50And the patient can see you? Yes, yeah, yeah.
04:54But this is what some of our NHS staff have been wearing.
04:59But the most perfect thing is a tight-fitting goggle
05:02because then the virus can't get through.
05:05Also, this is a science lab glasses,
05:09which isn't brilliant because, again, you can get the...
05:12Get underneath, but is that what some of the staff are wearing?
05:15Yeah, yeah.
05:16We've had local people drop these off for me.
05:19Somebody who's doing some building work.
05:22Is it all stuff that's just been dropped off for you? Yeah.
05:28Libby Nolan is a senior nurse.
05:31She thought Covid was going to kill her.
05:35My registrar became unwell and I became unwell
05:38and a few others within the team have become unwell.
05:42I had some very bleak hours.
05:45I don't want anyone to suffer this.
05:48The Welsh Government says more than a million pieces of PPE
05:52have been given to Libby's hospital.
05:55But she thinks she was exposed because she didn't have the right kit.
06:00What was it like? What was the worst part?
06:02You can't get air in. Very, very constricted, tight.
06:06It feels like you're breathing through a straw.
06:10Why was that kit not good enough from your point of view?
06:14Because there was no coverage.
06:16We had very simple aprons,
06:18very like the aprons you would serve food with.
06:21We had a mask, which is just a surgical mask.
06:27Some doctors and nurses say they've been warned
06:30not to speak out about the crisis.
06:33But Libby is a union rep
06:35and thinks people should know what conditions are like.
06:39Sorry, I feel incredibly passionate
06:42that no more people should suffer,
06:45that no more health workers should come to harm
06:48or for some reason that they can't speak out,
06:54that I will do it for them.
06:56Across the UK, images of doctors and nurses in homemade kit
07:01have been posted online.
07:05Aprons made from bin bags, plastic bags on heads,
07:09swimming goggles and other home-supplied eye protection.
07:14And this nurse was not impressed
07:16with the official kit he'd been supplied.
07:20This is a box of masks that we've been using today.
07:24You can see...
07:28..the white sticker saying 2019.
07:31So that's out-of-date.
07:33The sticker that they've covered up the out-of-date sticker with
07:38is out-of-date.
07:40This is where it's been.
07:42This is where it's been.
07:45Out-of-date sticker with is out-of-date.
07:48This is what it's been like for the last month.
07:52Of course, stocks of PPE vary across the country,
07:57but some doctors working with Covid patients
08:00have decided to speak out.
08:02We've been put on the front line, to use government terminology,
08:06but without front-line protection,
08:09that we've been kind of sent to battle
08:11without any of the resources we need to fight it.
08:14I think people who feel that they would like to have the full PPE
08:18or people coming in and out of the department
08:20are not being given it and not being allowed it
08:22because they are concerned that the full PPE will run out.
08:25Do you feel safe as you do your job?
08:27We know that this virus can kill people.
08:30We have seen healthcare workers die from this virus.
08:33Obviously, there's concern among healthcare professionals
08:36and NHS workers and care workers about this virus.
08:39I think you'd be inhuman if you didn't have that concern.
08:46Nearly 100 NHS workers have died from the virus so far.
08:52But did it have to be like this?
08:59A pandemic is not an unexpected event.
09:03For almost a decade,
09:05it's been designated the greatest threat to Britain.
09:10Our hospital workers should be kept safe.
09:17The government says it's been preparing for a pandemic for years.
09:22This is a public information film from 2006.
09:27Pandemic flu is very infectious
09:30and may make a large number of people ill.
09:33And some people will die.
09:35The government's plans were based on an outbreak of flu.
09:39We need your help to create a united front against the virus.
09:43There are some things you must do to help slow its spread.
09:46The government says COVID-19 is a different disease
09:50with a higher hospitalisation rate.
09:52Wash your hands thoroughly and often.
09:56But the advice and the PPE required are very similar for both diseases.
10:05To be ready for any pandemic, you need to stockpile.
10:09Because once it hits, every country with the disease needs PPE.
10:16This government pandemic guidance from 2009
10:20gives a simple list of what is needed.
10:22A gown, the best type of face mask and eye protection.
10:29The pandemic stockpile is distributed from warehouses around the country,
10:34like this one in Derbyshire.
10:36The government says that having a stockpile
10:39is considered a very high quality mark in international terms.
10:43But there is a problem with what's been bought.
10:47The government didn't stock these warehouses
10:50with all the equipment that was recommended.
10:53They didn't buy any hospital gowns at all.
10:57Panorama has discovered that just last year,
11:00the government's own advisers warned
11:03that gowns were needed in the stockpile,
11:06but still none were bought.
11:10John Ashton is a public health expert
11:13and long-standing critic of the government.
11:16There's no excuse for not having adequate stockpiles.
11:20You need everything to protect against this kind of virus.
11:24It's breathtaking that there were no gowns at all in stock.
11:28Breathtaking!
11:33And we've discovered it wasn't just gowns left off the shopping list.
11:38The government also failed to buy other essential items
11:42that would be needed in a pandemic.
11:45The government didn't buy any visors at all.
11:48There were no swabs either, which makes testing for the virus
11:52more difficult.
11:54And the government didn't buy a single body bag,
11:57despite the fact they were supposed to be preparing for a pandemic.
12:02And Panorama has discovered
12:04that millions of respirator masks are unaccounted for.
12:0833 million were on the original stockpile shopping list,
12:13but only 12 million have been handed out,
12:16and the government refuses to explain
12:19where the other life-saving masks have gone.
12:22The consequence of not planning,
12:26not ordering kit, not having stocks, not having stockpiles,
12:31is that we are sending in to the front line doctors, nurses,
12:36other health workers and social care workers
12:40without the equipment to keep them safe.
12:43The government says swabs, body bags were not recommended.
12:48And that surgical gowns will be procured
12:51for inclusion in the future stockpile.
12:57For a decade, we failed to get the stockpile right,
13:00but when COVID-19 first appeared, we still had time.
13:05At the start of February,
13:07the European Centre of Disease Control issued a warning.
13:11They advised us what we needed to buy
13:14They advised us what we needed to buy and how much.
13:18The document says we'll need respirator masks,
13:21eye protection, gowns and gloves.
13:25For the most serious cases,
13:27around 20 sets of PPE per patient per day.
13:34We should have been getting ready.
13:39February is when we started seeing the big outbreaks in Europe.
13:43Actually, February was our month to prepare.
13:47These four weeks of February were crucial.
13:50What would be the implications
13:52if you didn't take advantage of that four weeks of planning?
13:55They would be devastating.
14:04The government has been accused of failing to act quickly enough.
14:08Here's the kind of opportunity we missed.
14:14This factory in Bolton makes the protective fabric
14:18needed to make specialist PPE gowns and masks.
14:22But they weren't approached by the government in February.
14:25And in March, the company offered their services.
14:30I've personally written to government myself,
14:32written to MPs and we've also written to Public Health England.
14:36At this stage, we haven't really had a response.
14:38We filmed ten days after the company offered to help the UK,
14:43but they still hadn't heard back.
14:45This order is for the United States.
14:49Currently, that line is running for about five to six days a week
14:52and the capacity is currently really 80% to 90%
14:55has been bought by America.
14:57So potentially Trump is buying this UK capacity,
15:00which obviously we want to support the NHS if possible,
15:04but currently that's where this material is going.
15:08The factory is now finally providing material for the NHS
15:12through a private supplier.
15:15But in the missing weeks, it could have provided enough material
15:18for almost 300,000 gowns.
15:22The government has delivered just over 1.3 million gowns
15:27during the entire COVID crisis.
15:30But the NHS needs hundreds of thousands of gowns a day.
15:35Our documents show the government isn't getting close to that.
15:41The government failed to appreciate the enormity
15:47of what was coming our way at the end of January.
15:52They failed to get a grip.
15:54They took advice from too narrow a range of people
16:00and when things continued to escalate out of control,
16:05they started to spin the story to make out
16:09that actually they'd been following the science
16:13and everything that they did made perfect sense.
16:17I think it's disgraceful.
16:20The government says it's had 9,000 offers of assistance
16:24which are being prioritised for larger companies.
16:28It says there are shortages of PPE across the world
16:32and it is doing everything to increase our stock levels.
16:36It delivered 183,000 gowns last Friday.
16:47But it looks like we didn't stockpile the right kit
16:50and then we didn't react quickly enough.
16:53NHS workers were let down.
16:59I feel really angry at the government.
17:02They had all this time.
17:04We had the luxury of time.
17:08We saw it coming.
17:09We should have used that time to prepare.
17:12And they keep saying this unprecedented thing.
17:17It is unprecedented but it wasn't unexpected.
17:29We're now a nation in lockdown.
17:33Our health service is at the heart
17:35of the nation's fight against the disease.
17:39This public demonstration of support means such a lot
17:43to those who work in the NHS.
17:45But some of them worry that this outpouring of emotion
17:48helps the government gloss over the shortages
17:51that are on some of the wards.
17:53As one intensive care nurse said to us,
17:56calling us heroes just makes it OK when we die.
18:03Many front-line staff are angry with the government.
18:07Some say there's a gap between what they hear is coming
18:11and what they see on the wards.
18:15There was a big disparity between what was coming out
18:18the official mouths and what was happening on the front lines
18:21so there was a huge mismatch.
18:23When I spoke to Dr Asif, he was on a shift in A&E
18:26and the ward had all but run out of protective gowns.
18:35Four?
18:36Yeah.
18:37Wow.
18:38How does that make you feel if there's only four gowns left
18:40and you're in an A&E department with people coming through the door?
18:44When there's a shortage of gowns, staff use plastic aprons.
18:53The government told us short sleeves are better for hand hygiene
18:57and that long-sleeve gowns can carry their own infection risk.
19:14It's like a pinny, it's plastic, it's flimsy,
19:17you open it up like this and you put it on your neck like this
19:21and then there you go.
19:23It does nothing.
19:29The government has consistently denied there's a shortage of PPE
19:33in the stockpile.
19:35It's blamed logistical problems
19:37and says it's built a whole new distribution network.
19:41The army has also been brought in to sort it out.
19:45We've spoken to a number of heads of procurement at NHS trusts.
19:51They didn't want to be identified
19:53but say the supply chain still isn't working.
20:01There is a complete lack of transparency from the government.
20:05They're creating panic as we don't know if they can supply us
20:09so we're scrambling to get it elsewhere.
20:12We've been told not to talk about the shortages outside of meetings and calls.
20:16They don't want people to know how bad it is.
20:19The supply chain is erratic, unpredictable and incompetent.
20:24We might ask for 10,000 gowns and instead be sent 5,000 aprons.
20:30We're the ones getting a call in the middle of the night
20:32because staff are desperate.
20:34We're the ones getting out of bed to find gowns and masks.
20:40It's not just hospitals. GPs also need PPE.
20:45The World Health Organisation says everyone dealing with COVID patients
20:50should have the full kit.
20:52The supplies that were given were very limited.
20:55We've not been able to rely upon the supply chain of the NHS.
21:00It has come in fits and starts.
21:03So here they've bought their own PPE.
21:06This surgery on Merseyside is in a COVID hotspot.
21:33I think we are best off from throwing you up to Arrow.
21:37Couldn't really want to bother you any more.
21:40You're going to need things like a chest x-ray and that kind of thing.
21:43Unfortunately, with this being a primary care hospital, it's not available.
21:48The government says health workers in a GP surgery
21:52only need a plastic apron and a basic surgical mask.
21:56But doctors here don't believe that.
22:00People in health care losing their lives and being put at risk
22:05is something that keeps me awake every night.
22:09I wouldn't be prepared to work without an appropriate mask,
22:14face shield and a gown to treat people who are suspected of COVID
22:19or who have been diagnosed with COVID.
22:22And I wouldn't ask my staff to do that.
22:25We've investigated the government guidance
22:29telling NHS staff what PPE they should wear.
22:36It seems clear that rules have been changed because of the shortages.
22:45In January, the government designated COVID-19
22:49as what's called a high-consequence infectious disease.
22:54The Health and Safety Executive had already investigated
22:58what PPE was needed when tackling a high-consequence infectious disease.
23:06It concluded all staff should wear a respirator face mask,
23:10full face visor and a gown.
23:17And the government has a legal obligation to make sure
23:20NHS staff have the right kit.
23:26But six weeks ago, the government downgraded COVID-19.
23:31The most consequential disease of the last 100 years
23:34was taken off the list of the highly consequential infectious diseases.
23:39Here are the recommended PPE components.
23:42Apron, alcohol hand rub, gloves.
23:47At the same time the virus was downgraded,
23:50the government weakened the guidelines on PPE.
23:55Health workers were now told they were safe to wear
23:58the less protective aprons and surgical masks
24:01in all but the most dangerous situations.
24:06This type of surgical face mask is secured around the ears with elastic.
24:11This must have been done because they realised
24:15that they weren't going to have enough equipment
24:19and they needed somehow to have a story that's stacked up
24:24with actually being caught out on supplies.
24:28Should COVID-19 be on that list?
24:31COVID-19 is the biggest infectious disease
24:36to hit this country in the last 100 years.
24:41Why on earth shouldn't it be
24:44in the most serious category of classification?
24:52The official reason for the downgrading
24:55was that there was now a lab test for the virus
24:58and COVID-19's mortality rate was low overall.
25:05The government told us scientific evidence evolves
25:08and plans are adapted accordingly.
25:15Removing the disease from the list was backed by a scientific committee
25:19but sources on that committee have told Panorama
25:23that it had to be in part a pragmatic decision
25:26based on the availability of PPE.
25:39That is certainly the view of some on the ward.
25:46Staff think the guidelines are not about keeping them safe
25:50but making do with the shortage of PPE.
25:55PPE is needed to be rationed now
25:57and it doesn't seem fair to me that healthcare professionals
26:00who feel they're at risk, who may be at risk,
26:02are not being given that full PPE equipment
26:04because the government failed to prepare
26:06and failed to do the stockpiling that was needed
26:08for this equipment in advance.
26:15When did that guidance leave nurses?
26:18Vulnerable. Vulnerable.
26:20And at risk of their own health and safety.
26:22And at risk of dying.
26:25Do you think some of your colleagues will die
26:27because their protective equipment is not good enough?
26:30Yeah, I do. I do.
26:36The government says it has
26:38taken the right steps at the right time
26:42and has been guided at all times
26:44by the best scientific advice.
26:48It's been working day and night
26:50to battle against coronavirus
26:52and to protect our NHS and save lives.
26:59But as things stand
27:01NHS staff in A&E and COVID wards
27:04are being issued protective kit
27:06that is not as good
27:08as what the World Health Organisation recommends.
27:15I love the NHS and I'm proud of it
27:18and I'm so proud to be part of it
27:20but I feel so ashamed
27:23by how the NHS has been treated
27:26that we've been expected to battle this pandemic
27:31but we've just not been looked after
27:33at all.
27:42In Southend
27:43Felix is still fighting for his life.
27:47He's now been on a ventilator
27:49for almost four weeks.
27:53Felix is probably dying.
27:56And Felix is every nurse.
28:03He's the best nurse.
28:07He's an exceptional man.
28:09He's an exceptional friend.
28:11But he is
28:15just like every other nurse.
28:18So many NHS staff have already died
28:22while trying to protect us from the disease.
28:29COVID-19 will be with us for months.
28:35We're all in this together.
28:39We're all in this together.
28:43We're all in this together.
28:48How many lives will be lost
28:51because of the scandalous shortage of PPE?