Dear Matt Hancock MP,
We have watched with increasing incredulity and pain the bitter harvest of recent Governments’ weakening of civil society and public services, and the incompetence of the response to the pandemic. This is in stark contrast to the courage and competence of the staff in our weakened public services.
For at least four weeks the number of cases has been growing exponentially, following the course of the disease in Italy. The demand for test kits, ventilators and above all personal protective equipment should have been entirely foreseeable and the Government should not have delayed taking extreme but necessary measures, such as school closures, to limit cross infection.
We are appalled that many doctors, nurses, other frontline NHS staff and social care workers are expected to put their health and safety at risk by working on the front line in the fight against the virus without appropriate safety equipment. The Government needs to ensure urgently that everyone who is dealing with COVID-19 patients is provided immediately with all of the personal protective equipment that is required, at a high specification, to give them the best possible safeguard against cross infection with the disease.
Will you commit to meeting the demands of the Doctors’ Association, and Royal College of Nursing, amongst others, in this respect?
We look forward to receiving your response.
Yours sincerely
David Teasdale, Chair of Liverpool Green Party
Cllr Tom Crone, Leader of the Green Party Group on Liverpool City Council.