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10
WQ.221/2020
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES
BY DEPUTY C.S. ALVES OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 16th JUNE 2020
Question
Will the Minister confirm –
- the date when Personal Protective Equipment (P.P.E.) guidance in response to the Covid-19 crisis was issued to the Emergency Services;
- details of any changes to the guidance since it was first published; and
- what monitoring activity, if any, is in place to ensure all Emergency Services have sufficient P.P.E. and are using it in accordance with the issued guidance?
Answer
- Local guidance on PPE for health care and other essential workers was first released on the 2nd April; this explicitly included PPE for the emergency services.
- The guidance was updated and released for circulation on the 7th April to take account of national practice guidance that was updated from Public Health England.
The rationale for the updates was to support the provision of information in a clearer infographic format, as well as to provide further clarity on different scenarios where specific PPE use may slightly differ.
The guidance was then updated on the 24th of April when the table for emergency services was updated to reflect the position and consistency with the national guidelines for the same professional emergency groups.
The last up-date to PPE guidance was made on the 21st of May. At this time, an update to the guidance for emergency services was an addition approving the use of additional mask types to increase the range of masks available to use to FFP2 and N95 type masks. The same changes were made across all healthcare groups. The PPE infographic was also updated to reflect this change. In addition, the generic list of guidance on Aerosol Generating Procedures was also added to include swallowing assessment'.
- Supported by the government-issued guidance referred to above, it is the responsibility of each organisation to ensure that it holds sufficient levels of products to meet its individual business needs. However, to support and assure this, the PPE Cell continues to monitor the demand for and usage of a prescribed list' of PPE products for healthcare and essential workers across the island. This assists with stock control and procurement needs as the Island transitions through the Safe Exit Strategy.
The management and use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is routine activity for emergency services, and Respiratory Protection Equipment (RPE) is routine activity for fire and rescue services. This means that no additional measures for monitoring and supervision were required or implemented. Updated guidance is shared with staff and regular reminder e-mails are sent out within each service, alongside notices/posters displayed around the stations.