An RAF plane collecting crucial PPE for the coronavirus battle is still grounded in Turkey today amid furious warnings hospitals face running out.
Ministers originally declared that the 84 tonnes of life-saving equipment would arrive on Sunday, but it failed to turn up. They then claimed it would arrive yesterday, but the first military flight sent to pick it up has yet to start the journey back.
The government has blamed ‘challenges at the Turkish end’ for the issues – but Istanbul has retorted that ministers only requested help with the consignment on Sunday.
With some hospitals resorting to washing medical gowns for reuse and doctors warning they might have to stop treating patients, ministers have been desperately playing down expectations about the shipment.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak told the regular Downing Street briefing last night that government is pursuing ‘every possible option’ around the world to bolster supplies.
But the row widened today amid claims that millions of pieces of PPE are still being shipped out of the UK to EU countries. Firms told the Telegraph they had ‘no choice’ about sending masks, respirators and other pieces of kit abroad because the Government had repeatedly ignored offers of help.
Only one of the three RAF planes earmarked for the job has left RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, to collect PPE from Turkey – but it is reportedly yet to start the return journey. Pictured: Military C-17 aircraft sitting at RAF Brize Norton
Chancellor Rishi Sunak tried to dampen the anger of healthcare bosses last night, telling the regular Downing Street briefing that government is pursuing ‘every possible option’ around the world in order to secure more PPE
The 84 tonnes of life-saving equipment set to be used in the NHS’s fight against coronavirus, had been due to arrive in Britain last night but it failed to be delivered with RAF planes now being tasked with going to get it. Pictured: RAF Brize Norton
Mr Sunak said the UK and other countries are facing an ‘international challenge’ to source the equipment and that ministers are ‘working hard to get the PPE our frontline NHS and social care staff need’.
He said Britain is still ‘working to resolve the Turkish shipment of PPE as soon as possible’ but was unable to say when it will arrive. He did reveal a shipment of 140,000 gowns from Myanmar was unloaded in the UK yesterday.
One of three RAF jets that have been on standby left Brize Norton in Oxfordshire yesterday afternoon, but has reportedly yet to start the return journey.
Officials in Istanbul told Sky News there was ‘never a problem from Turkish authorities’ and ‘all permissions have been issued very swiftly’.
The hold-ups come with hospitals warning they are close to running out of some items, and medical bodies saying doctors could need to make ‘difficult decisions’ between exposing themselves to the virus or ‘letting a patient die on their watch’.
Trusts have accused ministers of raising the hopes of health staff saying they had ‘bitter experience’ of promised PPE either failing to arrive, or turning out to be either faulty or the wrong kit.
The Deputy Chief Medical Officer faced an angry backlash yesterday after she claimed that people are not being ‘adult’ about PPE supplies.
Dr Jenny Harries slapped down critics of the government’s efforts to make sure frontline workers have access to the gowns, gloves and masks they need to protect against coronavirus.
She said there needed to be a ‘more adult, and more detailed conversation about PPE supplies’ as she insisted the UK was an ‘international exemplar in preparedness’.
But healthcare chiefssaid they had been ‘sounding the alarm’ on the apparent lack of PPE available in some settings ‘for months’.
The death toll of frontline NHS and care home staff, from heart surgeons and nurses to porters and volunteers, has now reached at least 80. Pictured (left to right): Habib Zaidi, 76, GP from Essex; Adil El Tayar, 63, Hereford doctor; Pooja Sharma, 33, Sussex pharmacist; Amged El-Hawrani ENT expert, Burton
Pictured (left to right): Thomas Harvey, 57, London nurse; Alfa Saadu, 68, Essex doctor; Mohamed Shousha 79, London medic; Lynsay Coventry, 54, Essex midwife
Pictured (left to right): Aimee O’Rourke, 39, Kent nurse; Liz Glanister, 68, Liverpool nurse; Areema Nasreen, 36, Walsall nurse; Consultant Anton Sebastianpillai
Pictured (left to right): John Alagos, 23, Watford nurse; Glen Corbin, 59, from London; Rebecca Mack, 29, nurse, Morpeth; Janice Graham, 58, nurse, Scotland
Pictured (left to right): Rahima Sidhanee, 68, London nurse; Josiane Ekoli, 55, Harrogate nurse; Cheryl Williams, ward housekeeper; Ade Raymond, London nurse
Pictured (left to right): Maureen Ellington, Bristol nurse; Gladys Nyemba, Nottingham nurse; Andy Treble, 57, Wrexham hospital; Lourdes Campbell, 54, Bolton NHS
Pictured (left to right): Amrik Bamotra, 63, Ilford hospital; Brian Darlington, 63, Crewe porter; Julianne Cadby, 49, NHS manager; Linnette Cruz, 51, dental nurse
Pictured (left to right): London GP Syed Zishan Haider, 79; Jitendra Rathod, 58, surgeon, Cardiff; Alice Kit Tak Ong, 70, London nurse; Leilani Dayrit, 47, Rugby nurse
Pictured (left to right): Barbara Moore, 54, Liverpool; Edmond Adedeji, 62, locum, Wiltshire; Fayez Ayache, 76, GP in Ipswich; Carol Jamabo, 56, carer in Bury
Pictured (left to right): Carer Catherine Sweeney, 64; Donald Suelto, London nurse; Urologist Abdul Chowdhury, 53; Julie Omar, 52, nurse in Redditch
Pictured (left to right): Elsie Sazuze, 44, carer, Cannock; Gareth Roberts, 63, Cardiff nurse; Sara Trollope, 51, London matron; Amor Gatinao, 50, London nurse
Pictured (left to right): Donna Campbell, 54, from Cardiff; Elbert Rico, 52, porter in Oxford; Oscar King Jr, 45, porter in Oxford; Elvira Bucu, 50, care worker
Pictured (left to right): Nurse Melujean Ballesteros, 60; Technician Kevin Smith, Doncaster; Leilani Medel, 41, nurse in Cardiff; Amarante Dias, 54, nurse in Somerset
Pictured (left to right): Gladys Mujajati, 46, Derby nurse; Care assistant Stephen Agyapong; Patricia Crowhurst, 54, Teesside care; Jane Murphy, 73, Edinburgh A&E
Pictured (left to right): Barbara Sage, 68, Bromley, London; Dr Krishan Arora, 57, London; Sonya Kaygan, 26, care worker; Jenelyn Carter, 41, Swansea nurse
Pictured (left to right): Michael Allieu, London nurse; Radiographer Simon Guest; Wilma Banaag, 63, Watford hospital; Gilbert Barnedo, 48, London nurse
Pictured (left to right): Rajesh Kalraiya, 69, consultant, Romford; Steven Pearson, 51, nurse, Cumbria; Linda Clarke, 66, Wigan midwife; Emily Perugia, 29, carer, London
Pictured (left to right): Barry England, 999 paramedic; Gordon Ballard, manager, London; Mandy Siddorn, 61, technician, Chester; Unnamed at family’s request
Pictured (left to right): Carer Ruben Junior Munoz, Surrey; Andy Stamp, 65, IT admin, Liverpool; Margaret Tapley, 84, NHS nurse; Charles Tanor, 39, carer, West Mids