It became apparent very early in the COVID-19 pandemic that there was going to be a problem with the supply of PPE. All eyes at that point were understandably on the NHS and our hospitals in particular and available supplies of PPE were directed their way.
But, as City of York’s Executive Member for Health and Adult Social Care, I was very aware that there were other front line workers who also needed PPE, although of a different specification from that used in hospitals. Regular reports came to me about supplies in care homes and home care organisations and I knew that sometimes, what was needed did not arrive soon enough.
York put out an appeal for any organisation who had anything suitable to get in touch. We were amazed at the response which came from people as varied as beauty therapists, science teachers, a croquet club, hairdressers and garages. Some of those with 3D printers were able to make what was needed for use in the hospitals. But we knew that even if we dealt with the problem now, we still had the issue of keeping the supply chain going.
Our council leader, Cllr Keith Aspden, wrote to the Government underlining the need for additional PPE, especially for the adult social care sector. He emphasised that assurances needed to be given about the supplies we would need in the future. The council’s care team currently had sufficient PPE and the council continued to source PPE but stocks were low and it was essential that PPE supply was assured for health and care workers in the weeks ahead. Nationally, Munira Wilson MP, our spokesperson, put strong pressure on the government to deliver on PPE supplies, and both national and local government lobbying worked together to highlight the problem.
Things have started to improve and the multi-agency Local Resilience Forum was instrumental in keeping supplies flowing as they were needed. In addition, I had a number of local and not so local people writing to me saying they were now producing PPE and wanting to help. All these were put through to our dedicated PPE team, set up by the council, to help coordinate supplies.
The quantities of PPE needed are substantial and sufficient stocks do need to keep arriving, so we will continue to lobby Government for support.
There is a twist in the tale and it happened very recently. One of the residents in my ward rang me to say she couldn’t drive but she had a sewing machine so could she help make PPE. I put her details through to our volunteer help line and an officer rang her and said she certainly could. And the local business she was put in touch with who were already making PPE, was one I knew well – they made my wedding dress! It’s a small world in York!
* Carol is Chair of North East York Branch and has been an active member of the Liberals, then the Liberal Democrats, for well over 50 years and a city councillor for 21 years.
Follow @libdemvoice.org on Bluesky
Like us on Facebook
Subscribe to our feed
Sign-up for our daily email digest
Debt-ridden graduates claim they are seen as cash cows
Why non-fiction books need their indexes
Changes in status: Local Elections wrap up
AM
Ben Wood
Ed Sanderson
Jack
5 Comments
I fear that I may contradict some things I have argued for regarding decentralisation. There is no single solution to running things…
—
PPE shortage highlights what it is like to be at the end of a long supply chain. PPE exists as a commodity in warehouses, delivered by truckers, planes and ships. PPE is stitched and glued from fabric, sheet plastic, elastic in clean factories thousands of miles away and packed in cardboard boxes for shipping. Every factory draws supplies from multiple middle men and women. At the next level, fabric has to be woven from thread, drums of chemicals have to be mixed to make plastic. And somebody has to make thread and chemicals, cut down trees to make pulp for cardboard boxes.
Where are we in the UK in the long supply chain? Close to the top. We know how to do everything but it is ‘cheaper’ to pay somebody else — until systems break down when we need stuff fast.
Maybe we, government and citizens, have made some bad decisions about globalisation?
Supply chains were an important issue in the 2016 referendum.
Perhaps we did not make enough of them at the time, but the country will know more about them now.
Regrettably that does not mean that we should prioritise campaigns about headlights in the Volkswagen-Audi Group, which includes Porsche, SEAT (Spain), modern factories in former communist countries, and an Italian brand name converted into a car factory beloved by Jeremy Clarkson, who was caught speeding in France.
The UK also makes wings for Airbus, with consequent needs for transport.
We should recognise that Labour’s new leader has said that they should accept that EU membership is over.
A tv programme that I recorded about railways in Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia had a still photo of a continuous chain of people, all holding hands, wanting to be independent from the USSR.
Tsarist Russia had wanted access to ice-free ports in the Baltic and built a railway using the wide track gauge. Advancing Nazi troops had ripped it up and replaced it with a German gauge, advancing Soviet troops ripped it up and installed the wide gauge.
The programme ends with the commitment of the three countries to the EU, which is funding a new railway uniting all three countries and ending, so far, in Poland, on a standard EU gauge. There is a picture of broad gauge uniquely meeting narrow gauge points.
Phil Beesley 5th May ’20 – 3:39pm
In the USA at the moment people are making their own masks, not necessarily fitting tightly to the face, effective as a way of not offending others.
I have a mask, which is a transparent shield to protect my face from flying debris, such as leaves of nettles and blackberries, which I do not wish to eat. I have ever only worn it in the garden.
A friend (and fellow Lib Dem member) makes protective visors (anti-face-spatter), with a better quality-price ratio than anything coming in from China. He had a struggle to source the material, but now has hundreds of visors on the shelf, ready for sale. However, his real difficulty is marketing, because people who go on TV to whinge about not having PPE in their care home (or whatever) are not easy to get in touch with quickly. Under lockdown many phone lines are unmanned or guarded by junior jobsworths.
In the maelstrom of this appalling pandemic mistakes and misjudgements are inevitable and we must concentrate on positive measures rather than constant criticism. However when the time for a full enquiry comes the real scandal to my mind will be what happened or more to the point didn’t happen well before the actual crisis. Unquestionably there should have been sufficient warehouses packed with PPE plus supply chains under direct UK control for replenishment. Detailed studies had clearly identified the need for this time after time.