COVID-19
The PPE-Hand Hygiene Balance
Liam Mynes from Tork manufacturer Essity, looks at the balance that needs to be struck between PPE and hand hygiene in care homes, and considers ways in which the safety of residents and staff may be enhanced by combining the two.
The shortage of personal protective equipment for care homes has been well documented in the press in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As healthcare systems around the world scrambled to supply their hospitals with masks, gloves, aprons and goggles at the start of the crisis, the care home sector was initially overlooked until cases of coronavirus in these facilities began to spiral out of control.
In mid-May it was reported that COVID-19-related care home deaths were at last beginning to stabilise in the UK. However, deaths from all causes in the country’s care homes still remained 159% higher than at the start of the pandemic which was obviously a cause for alarm.
The need for PPE in care homes was becoming increasingly urgent, but sufficient supplies were simply not available. Some homes were forced to take desperate measures. For example, the Beeches Care Home in Meir, Staffordshire appealed for PPE donations via its Facebook page when its own supplies of masks, gowns and gloves started running dangerously low.
Meanwhile, staff at the Manor Hall nursing home in Eastbourne began buying their own boiler suits and waxing these themselves to provide them with extra protection against the coronavirus.
Elsewhere in the country care homes became increasingly reliant on the generosity and resourcefulness of the community. A distributor of pharmaceutical equipment in Swindon stepped
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in to give 3,200 pairs of gloves and 1,500 masks to local homes from its own stock, for example, while a girls’ boarding school in Letchworth raided its science department and donated scores of disposable gloves and goggles to nearby facilities.
A 15-year-old youth from Teesside used the lockdown period to make protective equipment using his 3D printer. Daniel Sillett supplied care homes in the North East with more than 600 of his home-made face shields.
The efforts of companies and individuals combined with the resourcefulness of the care homes themselves allowed them to weather the worst of the crisis. Meanwhile, supplies were gradually becoming available and PPE began to permeate the sector via more traditional supply channels.
But the coronavirus is expected to remain a threat for months, if not years. The care home sector will continue to be particularly vulnerable due to the age and frailty of the residents. So, it is important that we all stay alert and that we improve our understanding of the risks while finding new ways of reducing them.
The advantages of PPE have been clearly set out in guidelines issued by PHE. These state that disposable gloves, plastic aprons, masks and eye protection should be worn when carrying out any task that requires touching a resident such as dressing, bathing, getting ready for bed etc.
When a resident is ill with a cough, the care home staff member should wear protective equipment even when at a distance of
www.tomorrowscare.co.uk
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