Sufficient personal protective equipment is available for employees in the healthcare sector to handle the second corona wave. This is stated in an investigation commissioned by the Ministry of Health (VWS), healthcare minister Tamara van Ark wrote in a letter to the Lower House on Monday.
Sufficient personal protective equipment is available for employees in the healthcare sector to handle the second corona wave. This is stated in an investigation commissioned by the Ministry of Health (VWS), healthcare minister Tamara van Ark wrote in a letter to the Lower House on Monday.
This concerns the regular and preventive use of medical mouth masks, gloves and insulation jackets.
“An enormous amount of protective equipment has been purchased in the past period. It is good news that there is now sufficient stock for the second wave. In addition to purchasing by healthcare institutions, we will continue to focus on sufficient emergency stock of protective equipment at the National Consortium of Resources (LCH) and production. in the Netherlands ”, writes Van Ark. It concerns all forms of care.
The study looked at the expected regular consumption, preventive use and consumption in corona patient care. An estimate was also made of the stocks at the healthcare institutions, the emergency stock of the LCH and the expected deliveries to the institutions.
According to Van Ark, the stock of medical masks and insulating jackets is probably even sufficient to absorb a possible third wave. Currently there are approximately 600 million approved surgical face masks in stock.
Still a shortage of gloves
There is still a worldwide shortage of gloves, which may lead to a shortage in the long term. The LCH is therefore trying to purchase more gloves and is looking at the possibility of making gloves itself in the Netherlands.
In principle, healthcare institutions must purchase protective equipment themselves. The LCH is a temporary emergency facility if care institutions and care providers themselves cannot obtain enough protective equipment. That was the case during the first corona wave.
FNV: OMT advice about face masks ‘unclear’
Trade union FNV Zorg & Welzijn calls the latest advice from the Outbreak Management Team (OMT) on the use of face masks and other personal protective equipment in healthcare “unclear” on Monday.
In the advice published on Friday, preventive use of mouth masks is still not recommended for home care. The advice states that the use of mouth masks for staff can be “considered” and must be assessed per client.
According to FNV, it “puts the safety of employees at risk”. The union believes that healthcare professionals should always be able to assess for themselves whether they use protective equipment. Employers would then have to provide them.
