thank you health secretary a question to you if i may the royal college of nursing has issued new guidance to its members telling them that if they haven't been given the appropriate p.p. and that there is no other way of treating a patient without reducing risk then they should refuse to work rather than compromising their own safety will you apologize to the nurses and indeed the other medical and health care workers who are being put in that impossible position of having to make a decision between whether to offer treatment to a patient or to protect their own personal safety well martha as i said in the previous answer we're working night and day to make sure that we get the right people the and actually the thing i want to do is pay tribute to the on believable efforts of a huge number of people to get to the position where we are in now which as i said in my opening remarks is improving but we won't rest until we get there so i. work closely with the royal college of nursing on these matters on other things in fact i was in contact with them only earlier today because it's so importa

i'm joined by anne marie rafferty, professor of nursing policy at kings college london and president of the royalthe fact that he does not want the minutes‘s silence today to detract from some really important issues around the safety of front line workers? absolutely, and that is what the minute's silences reminding us of. our couege silences reminding us of. our college has been relentless and keeping pressure on government to ensure that logistics and distribution and the supply of ppe in particular, as well as testing, is available to front line staff at their own hour of need. what is your assessment of where your members are currently regarding ppe and access to testing? we have been doing a survey and found that 50% have reported that they do not have full access to the case that they require, and indeed one in ten have reported they had been making their own, that is confirmed by another survey that myself and colleagues have been undertaking which has demonstrated that just 45% have been undertaking which has demonstrated thatjust 45% of our sample said they had adequate kit. it is causi

of us safe. stefanie, a brief last word from you. i was very moved yesterday by the nurse, the head of the royal college of nurses, who spoke at the governments that lyse just mentioned, two young women, three young children, and they died trying to save patients. they were pleading, please stay in. this weekend, there is going to be such nice weather, you have kids to pacify — but please, everybody has to stay indoors. michael? just to say to people viewing, read your papers with proper journalistic scepticism . the projections about what will happen next, how many numbers, how many this. we simply can't know. the data collection on this disease have been very, very poor, so learn to read the numbers, it will help you with your anxiety. learn to read them with some scepticism. if you hear a hard facts, 5000 mask for 500,000 nhs workers, you can take that to the bank. someone said you can have 200,000 deaths, that is a meaningless extrapolation — ignore it. thank you all very much forjoining us on the programme. my thought before going — this virus is infectious, but a smile is much more so. from dateline london, until the same time next wee

the health authorities here have been shortages of personal protective equipment and the royal college of nursing which represents nurses in the b.m.a. which represents doctors has been highlighting it according to a survey published today by the royal college of nursing 51 percent of nurses are being asked to reuse items of p.p. which is actually marked for single use now it's not really acceptable say the union so what has happened is that the authorities have changed their policy changed the guidelines instead of nurses the previous guidelines said they should be wearing long sleeved fluid repellent gowns what they are now saying is that well if that's not possible and there are 3 other options including including reuse they said some compromise is needed to optimize the supply of p p a in times of extreme shortages chris hopson chairman of the n.h.s. providers that represents the hospitals for example for that on standing in front of said we have now reached the point where the national stock of these long sleeve fluid repellent downs will be exhausted in 24 to 48 hours nursing staff medical

we heard from doctors organisations on the royal college of nursing and doctors and nurses themselves's not forget the care workers who are providing care in nursing homes and residential homes. i've spoken to the care homes in my constituency and many of them have been worried that they are not getting enough, that it's not the right type, and they are also especially worried about testing because, look, if you are in a care home now, families are not going to visit, so the only way the infection would get in is through one of the staff. so care staff are desperate not to infect the people. the people they are going to work to care for. so we really need the plan for ppe and testing to get to care homes and home care agencies now, because these are some of the most frail and vulnerable people in society, and as isaid, vulnerable people in society, and as i said, we've seen in other countries some terrible, terrible incidents in care homes and we don't wa nt incidents in care homes and we don't want that happening here. as you say, part of the issue with the situation in care homes is

royal college of surgeons says doctors shouldn't risk their own health. this is echoed by their own health. this is echoed by the royal college of nursing, who said its members could refuse to treat patients as a last resort if personal protective equipment is not getting through. we hear of equipment being sent out to the nhs and organisations across the country, hundreds of pairs of goggles and masks, but it is being used at a much higher rate than normal. so the pressure is still very much on the government to get that ppe out to those who need it. we will get more figures from the uk authorities later on the overall death toll? yes sometime this afternoon we will get an update from the department of health about the number of tests that have been carried out and the number of recorded deaths. thank you. the prime minister has now left hospital. he spent seven days at st thomas's hospital in london, being treated for coronavirus. 0ur correspondent is at the hospital for us how. correspondent is at the hospital for us now. what more can you tell us about him being discharged and what he is going to be doing next? yes, we had the confi

i was very moved yesterday by the verse, the head of the royal couege by the verse, the head of the royal college of nursesg about these two nurses that nine mike just about these two nurses that nine mikejust mention, two about these two nurses that nine mike just mention, two young women, three young children, and they died to save patients. they were pleading, please stay in. this weekend, that is going to be such a nice weather, you have kids to pacfiy— nice weather, you have kids to pacify— but please, everybody has to stay indoors. michael? just to say to people viewing, you read your papers were properjournalistic scepticism is. the projections about what will happen next, how many numbers, how many less. we simply can't know. the data collection on this disease have been very, very poor suit learn to read the numbers, it will help you with your anxiety. learn to read them with some scepticism. hard facts, 5000 mask for nhs workers, you can take that to the bank. someone said you can have 200,000 deaths, that is a meaningless extrapolation— ignore it. thank you all are very much for joining us on the

a survey by the royal college of nursing found that half of nursing staff felt under pressure to works of protective equipment set out in official guidance. this has been a stress—test of our resilience, and the government plan is clearly not working. so can i ask the first secretary to tell front—line workers at risk, when will they finally get the equipment they need to keep them safe? since the start of the outbreak, we've delivered 1 billion items of personal protective equipment and tens of millions have been distributed via the devolved administrations. we recognise though that we've got to strive even harder in this incredibly difficult and competitive international environment to source the equipment. sir keir said the government had also failed to take up offers from british firms to help out. something's going wrong. there's a patern emerging here. we were slow into lockdown, slow on testing, slow on protective equipment and now slow to take up these offers from british firms. i don't accept his premise that we've been slow. we have been guided by the scientific advice, the

of us safe. stefanie, a brief last thought from you. very briefly, i was very moved yesterday by the nurse, the head of the royal college of nurses, who spokerence, and was talking about these two nurses that lyse just mentioned, two young women, three children, and they died working to save patients. they were pleading, please stay in. i mean, this weekend, it's really hard in britain, everybody wants to go outside, you have kids to pacify — there is going to be such nice weather, everybody wants to go outside, you have kids to pacify — but please, everybody has to stay indoors. michael? just to say to all people viewing — read your papers with proper journalistic scepticism. the projections about what will happen next, how many numbers, how many this — we simply can't know. the data collection on this disease have been very, very poor, so learn to read the numbers, it will help you with your anxiety. learn to read the numbers with some scepticism. if you hear a hard fact — 5,000 masks for 500,000 nhs workers, you can take that to the bank. if someone says, you can have 100,000 or 250,000 deaths, that is a meaningless extrapolation, ignore

here at the royal college of nursing they feel that the role of nurses has been overlooked, that ford nurses were to the virus, whether working in hospitals, care homes or the community, and that unlike some other nhs staff, the work of nurses is almost always up close and personal. the government says it's working around the clock to provide the protective equipment that staff need. it says in the past two weeks, with the help of the army, it's delivered 390 million pieces of equipment, with another 4.7 million facemasks today in england and smaller deliveries are taking place in the rest of the uk. but doctors say it's not just about the quantity of equipment they are receiving, but also the quality. the packsjust are inadequate, and they have very few items in them, and they simply won't be enough to protect staff for more than a few hours at most, and we know that this is a virus that potentially is deadly to people that catch it. what we've seen from italy and china and elsewhere is that if we don't get this right, then doctors and nurses will die. tomorrow, new official guideli

the chief executive of the royal college of nursing said there is no truth to the suggestion, that staffot using ppe properly. 0ver the suggestion, that staff are not using ppe properly. over 700 million pieces of ppe guns, gloves, and so forth, —— gloves, happy child challenges around distribution but there are plans to get more of this equipment to the front line. thank you very much, jenny. in spain, the number of daily deaths from covid—19 has continued to slow. the latest figures show 510 more people have died the lowest rise for 18 days. this takes the total number of deaths to just over 16300, the spanish health ministry has announced. 0ur correspondent, guy hedgecoe, says the mood is one of very cautious optimism. these are the best figures we have seenin these are the best figures we have seen in terms of daily deaths since march 23. it is a drop from yesterday, almost by 100, compared to yesterday. clearly that is encouraging and it would appear to continue this trend that we have been seeing over the last week or so, will be daily deaths have been dropping. however, you have t

it follows a campaign by the royal college of midwives, the royal college of nursing, and unison.eileen landers. a cleaner at queens hospital burton who's died with covid—19. the hospital said she was dedicated to her work and to protecting patients. her family said she had a heart of gold. eileen is one of more than 100 workers across health and social care who have died with covid—19 while working on front—line services. nurses and doctors, paramedics and cleaners, care staff and consultants. all will be remembered at 11:00 this morning in a minute's silence organised by health unions, led by the prime minister. the families of health care workers who have died with the coronavirus while working on front—line services will now be entitled to a £60,000 payment. families of staff who die from coronavirus in the course of their essential front—line work will receive a £60,000 payment. of course, nothing replaces the loss of a loved one but we want to do everything that we can to support families who are dealing with this grief. the health secretary also said from today some nhs ser

the royal college of nurses saying one in ten nurses are actually making their own facemasks. haps no surprise, the government is completely unwilling to talk about or think about publicly an exit strategy. indeed we now know that boris johnson's publicly an exit strategy. indeed we now know that borisjohnson's great greatest fear is for the virus re—emerging in the lockdown is released too early because that could mean an even more draconian lockdown which would have profoundly damaging consequences for businesses, never mind whether people would be prepared to put up with the second lockdown. tens of thousands of companies have already made applications to a government scheme designed to stop firms making workers redundant. the coronavirus job rentention scheme went live early this morning. businesses can now apply for grants to cover 80 per cent of the wages of staff who've been temporarily laid off. employers should receive the money within six days. as our economics correspondent andy verity reports, it's a huge understaking, not without teething troubles. this coffee shop

he had the royal college of nursing they feel that the role of nurses has been overlooked.e considerjust how exposed nurses we re considerjust how exposed nurses were to the virus whether working in hospitals, care homes or the community and that unlike some other nhs staff, the work of nurses is almost always up close and personal. the government says it is working around the clock to provide the protective equipment that staff need. it says in the past two weeks with the help of the army it has delivered 390 million pieces of equipment with another 4.7 million facemasks today. but doctors say it is not just about the quantity facemasks today. but doctors say it is notjust about the quantity of equipment they are receiving but also the quality. the packs are inadequate and they are very few items in them and they simply will not be enough to protect staff for more than if few hours at most and we know that this is a virus that potentially is deadly to people that catch it. what we seen from italy and china and elsewhere is if we do not get this right then doctors and nurse

sympathies and those of the nursing communities, those m essa g es of the nursing communities, those messages are flooding into the royal couege messages are flooding into the royal collegee being cared for. we absolutely must have the right personal protective equipment for every nurse in every setting of health and care. 0nly think about, often the public think about nurses and where they are working, we think about critical care nurses working in itg in critical hospitals. the nurses are everywhere. nurses and midwives are with us from birth to death, and working to care for people with chronic disease. all of the nurses need to have protective equipment. we heard yesterday that this equipment is now available, personal protective equipment, masks, gowns, aprons, gloves, eye protection, whatever is needed. we need that to be delivered. i understand there are military operations in place to get this equipment out. we will believe it when the state. we need to see it in the hands of nurses. can i be clear? the evidence you are hearing from the front line, despite what has been said about the operation to get material to the hospitals, are you still hearing evidence from

that perhaps the situation was improving but we have had today another warning from the royal college of nursing and the british medical association saying that there is still a shortage of supplies and that doctors and nurses are being placed in a very unfair position as to be said it's not just those people that are working inside hospitals it's ambulance workers that it have to go out and deal with suspected cases of covert 1000 of the people working inside camps let's talk thought to be a real crisis a hidden crisis in some ways inside right now because we're seeing a lot of people affected and it's not the death toll in the community within gallons is thought to be quite high but that's not yet feeding through into these daily government figures because these death toll figures that we're getting from those deaths that take place inside hospitals and so you had these associations and trade unions saying that doctors and nurses are being placed in a very unfair position because they are having to continue to treat patients while putting themselves at risk and also while a putting possibly th

within 24 to 48 house sense by close of play on sunday unless more supplies are found on the royal college of nursing that's the union which represents the nursing staff says that 51 percent of the members in a survey that they've done this week 51 percent have been asked to work in contact with coronavirus patients without full protective equipment the response of public health england was to change the guidelines essentially watered down the that the tightness of the of the guidelines saying the compromise was needed to optimize the supply of p.p.a. in times of extreme shortages but as i say this is becoming not just a health care issue does not becoming a real political headache for the government indeed for the update thank you. some health experts have all that iran's capital may be reopened too soon but the government says it's time to shift the focus back to the economy from time has more on the easing of restrictions. after nearly 2 months of being closed because of the coronavirus businesses in the iranian capital are waking up from their hibernation for main street shops like this in open a

downing street was asked today about the royal college of nursing advising their members, the nursingk they should be able to turn round and refused to do theirjobs. it obviously puts them ina do theirjobs. it obviously puts them in a very difficult position. the government not restating that line but saying they are working with the royal college of nursing and the priority is to get ppe to the front line as quickly as possible. it's a huge logistical challenge but it doesn't seem one the government is quite on top of yet. all these weeks into the crisis. with those reports of shortages at the front line still. you were talking earlier about almost no possibility of the lockdown being lifted right now, but we are now starting to report other countries who are a little further ahead in the pandemic, like italy and spain, thinking of trying to slowly in certain ways lift restrictions and the government in the uk will look to see what they do. they will be watching closely. let's remember the uk was days and in some cases weeks behind other european countries in putting in place restric

good afternoon, we have heard today that the royal college of nursing or advising staff to refused toient ppe as a last resort. we also understand this advice applies in scotland as well. we know that the scottish government is obviously pushing for adequate supplies of personal protection equipment but we also know there are shortages and problems with the delivery. what impact has this advice likely to have on the care of people diagnosed with coronavirus, that they can expect from the nhs, also the efforts to source ppe equipment for health care workers? is this likely to focus minds more? i spoke with the rcn just on friday at the end of last week and we will continue to keepin last week and we will continue to keep in touch with them, as i do weekly with the bma, with the unions, iam weekly with the bma, with the unions, i am speaking to unison next week and with scottish care. ppe is a co nsta nt week and with scottish care. ppe is a constant source of activity and scrutiny and oversight, on my part, but also on the part of my ministerial team. we constantly are looking at the s

the advice was condemned by the british medical association and the royal college of nursing, but theich he appeared to endorse protests against stringent lockdown measures in several us states, saying some were "too tough". earlier, he wrote in a series of tweets: "liberate minnesota," "liberate michigan," and then "liberate virginia." officials say the curbs, including the stay—at—home orders, are needed to halt the spread of coronavirus. this year's university graduates will suffer "scarring effects" which could mean they spend years in lower paid, non—gradutejobs. that's according to the institute for fiscal studies, which says experience of previous recessions shows that starting work during an economic downturn leads to a negative impact. those are the main stories. we need to talk about sport, and some sad news coming from the world of sport. the football world continues to pay tribute to the leeds united legend norman hunter, who died yesterday at the age of 76, after spending a week in hospital with coronavirus. hunter made more than 700 appearances for leeds over a 14—year p

dame donna kinnair is the general secretary and chief executive of the royal college of nursing.ing us on bbc news. i wonder, donna kinnair, how do you feel about the plans to test all essential workers? do you think health workers should be given priority? 0r health workers should be given priority? or do you think this is right? so we need a stage where health workers are given priority, because actually it is health workers that have been providing the care, so if ijust take my example today, i have been at the nightingale hospital, and in order for us to go there, we do have to be tested if we are showing symptoms to be able to not take time off and to be able to not take time off and to be able to deliver the right care for our patients. butjust in reference to your earlier conversation about lifting the lockdown, we note that we haven't infected enough of the population with this virus, so for any lifting of the lockdown to be successful, we need not only to be able to test health care workers but also track and trace patients and people outside of hospital, or people that

but in collaboration with input from a wide number of professional groups including the royal college of nursingt that supply through. it's difficult to give you a precise number because it varies from day to day and from organisation to organisation, but i can assure you we are collecting that information and asked the supply chain has changed, with the assistance of the military, we have that level of detail at organisational level and at the same time we are ensuring there is a good line of sight to the equipment that is available and that which will be coming in through the third strand which is procuring equipment. clearly there is a global demand for personal protective equipment at the moment and i know that the government with our support is working night and day to ensure we procure the ppe we need. for instance, the ffp3 masks you mention, i have confidence we have supplies of ffp3 masks that are required. on gowns we are working very ha rd required. on gowns we are working very hard as we speak. we extended the use of downs in the guidance la st the use of downs in the guidance last w

the royal college of nurses tweeted this: "across the capital, members are telling us that there is stillnue to take action because this isjust not good enough. we've called on the uk's workplace health & safety regulator to intervene." and the trade union congress which represents many health and social care workers also tweeted this today... here's the government's response. over the past two weeks, we have delivered over 390 million ppe products. we have insured that these are being delivered to every gp practice, dentist, community pharmacies, and there is also now a 2k hour nhs—run hotline where nhs and social care workers can call and request that ppe if it is needed. our political correspondent nick eardleyjoins me from westminster. we here figure from the government from the daily briefing when it comes to ppe come it is quantity but also quality as well, so much to consider. and also worth bearing in mind that some of those numbers are huge you also require a huge amount of ppe to deal with coronavirus patients. sometimes you have a number of doctors and nurses working on one pat

here at the royal college of nursing they feel that the role of nurses has been overlooked.tals, care homes or the community and that unlike some other nhs staff, the work of nurses is almost always up close and personal. the government says it is working around the clock to provide the protective equipment that staff need. it says in the past two weeks with the help of the army it has delivered 390 million pieces of equipment with another a.7 million facemasks today. but doctors say it is not just about the quantity of equipment they are receiving but also the quality. the packs are inadequate and they are very few items in them and they simply will not be enough to protect staff for more than if few hours at most and we know that this is a virus that potentially is deadly to people that catch it. what we seen from italy and china and elsewhere is if we do not get this right then doctors and nurses will die. tomorrow new official guidelines are expected to be published about which protective items each health care worker it needs in order to stay safe. ensuring that those i

the royal college of nurses tweeted this: "across the capital, members are telling us that there is stille to take action because this isjust not good enough. we've called on the uk's workplace health & safety regulator to intervene." and the trade union congress which represents many health and social care workers also tweeted this today... here's the government's response. over the past two weeks, we have delivered over 390 million ppe products. we have insured that these are being delivered to every gp practice, dentist, community pharmacies, and there is also now a 2k hour nhs—run hotline where nhs and social care workers can call and request that ppe if it is needed. we heard that at the daily briefing today. our political correspondent nick eardleyjoins me from westminster. we keep hearing the figures when it comes to ppe in testing but when it comes to ppe in testing but when it comes to ppe in testing but when it comes to on the ground to they really correlate? no. that is the honest answer at the moment. there has been a call for some time now to get more front line nhs staff tes

in collaboration and with input from a wide number of professional groups, including the royal college of nursing and they are confident it is based on they are confident it is based on the best scientific evidence that we have. the second strand is to ensure that the supply chain is working. this has been a huge increase in the distribution, the number of organisations that need to be supplied with ppe, so we have been working with nhs england and the government to support the government to make sure we get that supply three. it is very difficult to give you a precise number because it varies from day to day and it varies from organisation to organisation, but i can assure you that we are increasing —— increasingly collecting that information as the supply chain is changed with the assistance of the military, so we do have that detailed information at organisational level, and at the same time, we are ensuring that we have a good line of sight to the equipment available and that which will be coming in through the third strand, which is procuring equipment. clearly, there is a global demand for

pressure over rates and you can imagine that the nurses and doctors aren't happy are that the royal college of nursing the union for that has found the 51 percent of its members has been asked to work without the full set of protective equipment with patients with 19 we're hearing just a moment ago from shihad wrote returns in the us about the situation with care homes for the elderly and the the growing crisis that there is there in the us but if i understand it correctly coronavirus related deaths in care homes in the u.k. are not being officially recorded why is that. well not until now. there is a promise now from the health minister of health secretary matt hancock that testing will now roll out into the care home environment but it hasn't until now and that is the problem so people presenting with suspected coronavirus symptoms in hospital have been tested but those people dying in care homes nursing homes residential homes are not and as a result there is evidence that many deaths in those homes are simply not being recorded as coronavirus deaths they're being put down as sinus or whatever the

say the government will be unable to end the lockdown until widespread testing is available royal college of nurses has asked its members to stop treating patients as a last resort if they're not adequately equipped. health care workers have died after contracting the virus while treating patients talk to emma coom is an n.h.s. pediatrician she told us that despite the government's assurances the protective equipment is being delivered she and her colleagues still don't have what they need . i think it's been really damaging to n.h.s. morale this week to hear ministers trying to shift the blame for the lack of supplies of p.p.a. to the n.h.s. and was still suggests the plane may lie with n.h.s. staff misusing the p.p.a. and i think what they said in the briefing certainly will be no condolence to the families of the n.h.s. staff members who have lost their lives after becoming on well with cope with 19 nobody in the n.h.s. you know who wants to come to work to use more protection than they need we just need to keep ourselves safe last we do our job and it's the job of government to make sure that w

the royal college of nursing gave advice to members last week that as advice to members last week thato treat a patient. ido a patient. i do not think we should dissociate the two things, they are closely related. it would be extremely u nfortu nate if colleagues related. it would be extremely unfortunate if colleagues had to make that difficult decision between choosing between their own safety or looking after patients. we would all wa nt to looking after patients. we would all want to do our best and provide care. it is extremely unfortunate we are having to have these discussions because we do not have access to adequate ppe. that is all we want, to be safe when we go to work so we can do our best for our patients. what you think about how the government is handling this? the main feedback i would like to give to the government is just be honest and be candid with the problems we face. that makes for a much better grounds for working together to make sure we can solve these problems. when we are hearing conflicting and changing guidance on a regular basis, that becomes more ofa a r

of nursing, which surveyed 14,000 nursing staff over the easter weekend. let's talk to susan masters, director of nursing policy and practice at the royal college of nursing, the supply of equipment? as you rightly said, the survey looked at what the situation was across our members over the last weekend, and half of our members are saying that they have felt under pressure to work with high risk covid—19 patients without the level of ppe that is stipulated. half of them were also saying that they have been asked to treat using kit that was supposed to be for a single use only. we are hearing many, many distraught calls from nurses and nursing staff saying they feel worried about going to work. what do you say to them? because if they are worried, do they have a right, and could they actually say, we are not coming? we have been asked this a lot. this is a position that absolutely no nurse would ever want to get to. the fact is that the government and ministers as dumb and senior officials —— and senior officials. should not have put nurses in this position. about the pp that was ordered, sometimes only 10% of what was expected arriving, and i know the ele

protective equipment remain, questions are being asked about the safety of nurses working in the community and at care homes. the royal collegecare in the community, whether it's mental health, learning disability and all of these so there is a lot of concern out there because the focus from the outset was more on hospitals rather than care in the community and care homes. do they feel they are being put in dangerous situations? across the whole country there has been improvement and people are hearing now, it's been a long time coming, understanding they have to take action for care homes and communities. organisations in scotland have been working hard to have the issues coming from their members raised. the national care forum in england has also raised concerns. it's now out there. out in the open. it was very hidden. people didn't realise there was actually this issue within care homes unless you go into care homes but of course nobody is going into care homes because of coronavirus. it has been the invisible service. but at least now it's out in the open and action needs to be taken. you say action needs to be taken. yo

let's speak now to susan masters, from the royal college of nursing. thank you forjoining us. simply have to have the protective equipment to protect the most crucial staff in fighting this virus. we have had a major nhs trust contacting the bbc, requesting phone numbers for two clothes manufacturers, to get them stocks of gowns because it fears it does not have enough to get through today, let alone the weekend. does that surprise you or how little does that surprise you or how little does that surprise you or how little does that surprise you? this is what we are hearing, we are hearing and asking the government and ministers to do something about this. they really need to get a grip of the situation because we are three weeks into lockdown, the pandemic has been with us before that, and we are at the point where we absolutely need something to be done. we need to protect these crucial nursing staff, they are with patients all the time and they need the right level of equipment for the right patient at the right time. what is your message to the government? get on with it, p

if i can ask about staff putting themselves at risk because the royal college of nursing said they don't risks and we shouldn't be put in this position. the bma and the royal couege position. the bma and the royal college of nursing has been clear that doctors who are put in this position, where they are being put in danger by being asked to see a patient without the right equipment have the right to say they won't do that, and if they do make that decision, which no doctor wants to do, then the bma will back them up, but what we really want is to have the ppe there, so we can get on with seeing the patients without fearing for our own lives. thank you very much for your time, both of you. let's stay with that theme. it's been announced that london olympics boss lord paul deighton has been appointed to help get more ppe to nhs staff. let's speak now to kate hills, who represents a group of manufacturers who are in talks with the cabinet office about making gowns here in the uk. kate, good morning to you. explain to me if you can what is it that the organisation is trying to do and how ar

mike adams from the royal college of nursing. director for england.ill happen this morning. we saw the arsenal players return yesterday, incredible pictures of them, look at this, they have a huge amount of space at their training ground but you can see the distances, the distances between players is really quite extraordinary. same with spurs today. other clubs that are training at the moment, west ham and brighton, players will travel to training on theirown, brighton, players will travel to training on their own, their kit, they will train, mainly running like this, as you can see. and they will go home again in their car, on their own. the buildings themselves will not be open, they won't be going in for a chat with anyone, they won't be going in for any physical therapy, they will go home and have their showers at home. i think the concern is that the players will be out of a certain level of fitness and conditioning if matches to resume. what about matches? so many people at home will be thinking when might they open again? and happen ain? might

of the world health organization. i'm delighted they have been welcomed by the medical royal colleges, the bma, the medical royal colleges, the bma, the royal college of nursesthese are unprecedented times for our health and care system, and i want to make sure that every part, every part of it, is supported. i have therefore made £300 million available for funding for community pharmacies, who do so much to get vital medicines to people and play such an important part in their communities. they themselves are the nhs front line. and today to help nhs trusts to deliver what is needed without worrying about past finances, i can announce that i am writing of £13.a billion of historic nhs debt. —— i am writing off. this landmark step will not only put the nhs in a strong position to be able to respond to this global coronavirus pandemic, but it will ensure that our nhs has stronger foundations for the future. this is only one part of the future. this is only one part of the picture. i quite understand as well where people are yearning for the certainty that good testing provides. i get it. public health england can be incredibly proud of the world beating work

of this week. but will doctors and nurses by able to cope? mike adams is the director for england at the royal collegetly been highlighting for a while the shortage of nurses in the nhs, so this is staff we have to find from across the system to support this huge undertaking. there's no question how impressive it has been since the site has been up and running in such a short amount of time, but as far as we are is a moment, any staff coming in from outside london, i'm not sure there's been a direct call out yet. that would be on a voluntary basis and any nurses from within london who would be used to stop the excel centre, we are not sure where the resources would come from at this point. lets talk this through. 16,000 are needed and we went into this crisis 40,000 nurses short, 40,000 nursing vacancies. if you had to be in charge of this, how would you reallocate medics from elsewhere to staff the nightingale. this is highlighting the huge pressure that it's putting on the system. obviously, i'm talking from a nursing perspective. one of the things we are concerned about is how stretching already st

dame donna kinnair — who's the chief executive of the royal college of nursing — has paid tribute anr go outside, the temptation to break the regulations. please stick with the guidance. the country has made a huge sacrifice. on his own health, you will remember it was a week ago today that we learned that he had himself had to do south isolate as he had symptoms of the virus, he said, "i am feeling better after seven days of isolation. i still have a temperature, so still have to keep up the isolation." we would have that video in the news at one with jane hill. right now, let's look at the weather. well, in the coming days many of us will be able to enjoy some spring warmth coming through our windows, balconies, perhaps during our brief walk in the park. by sunday temperatures will get up to 20 degrees in the south and even as far north as yorkshire. throughout the uk it will feel warmer. it is thanks to this low pressure here sitting to the south—west of our neighbourhood. that is going to sent a plume of warm airall the that is going to sent a plume of warm air all the way from t

themselves at risk, she says, and this afternoon, a group of unions including unison and the royal college of nursingay workers are being exposed to unreasonable and unnecessary risk, and the lack of equipment is a crisis within a crisis, they say. overall, the numbers of deaths today, the highest day on day total so far, i know people are hoping for some good news in all of this. are we beginning to reach the peak of this pandemic in the uk, or is there still some way to go? we've been told consistently by the government's health experts to expect rises in the numbers of deaths and the numbers of cases. todayit deaths and the numbers of cases. today it was announced that there had been 4300 new cases in the 24—hour is up to 9am this morning, that brings the total to 29,474 positive cases. another 563 deaths, the largest single daily rise, bringing the total to over 2300. both are big rises, but what is important with these daily figures is not to take one day in isolation but to look at the trend over a number of days, and that is where there may be just a sign of things perhaps moving in the right

the survey by the royal college of nursing found that harvard nursing staff fell under pressure to work thank you mr speaker. can i first say that in relation to the first—line staff who have passed away and they work so ha rd to protect have passed away and they work so hard to protect other people who are suffering, our hearts go out to them and he is absolutely right that we must do everything we can to protect them. i know we recently had a consultant that passed away at kingston hospital, where both my boys were born and delivered, how important thatis, born and delivered, how important that is, how personal it is just so many of us and we absolutely agree on the need to protect them. he will know that getting the ppe to where it needs to be is a massive international challenge, but every country faces, globally from china to germany. and we have done a huge effort to provide, for example, the ventilators which have bolstered the nhs. if we had not been able to you that, the nhs would not have coped. since the start of the outbreak we have delivered 1 billion items of personal dete

to combat coronavirus worldwide, they have announced they are donating £5 million to the royal college of nursingirus relief efforts, but tiktok are the first to donate such a big single sum of money to a british organisation that is fighting on the frontline. the choice to give back to the nurses that have sent video views through the roof also comes as social media companies face pressure from the government to fight misinformation on their platform. we are honoured and humbled by the work nurses and healthcare workers and social care workers are doing. so we wanted to do our small bit to support them during what is such a difficult and challenging time. last week, the culture secretary asked for social media companies to step up the game when it comes to fighting misinformation on their platform is about coronavirus, especially regarding 5g conspiracy theories. so what is tiktok doing to fight coronavirus misinformation? all users have a little link in the tiktok app that they can click on, it goes to a dedicated page that has information from people like the world health organization and the

are working on that and working on that in relation to health care staff with the medical royal college of nursinggood morning. two sides to spring over the next few days. the initial one, a brief chill coming during the next 24—36 hours and will be followed by a sudden warming as we head into this weekend. to put some numbers on to that, tomorrow, with winds from the north and an added wind—chill, temperatures in single figures but by the time we hit sunday, the wind will be in the opposite direction from the south, and temperatures in the high teens if not low 20s. 0ut there at the moment, a bit chilly in eastern areas where we have sunshine to begin with, but strong to gale force winds across the north of scotland with showers turning wintry and the colder air digs with showers turning wintry and the colderairdigs in with showers turning wintry and the colder air digs in here. varying amounts of cloudy skies to be honest, a little bit of sunshine, showers, mainly in the west but a blustery day across the board and we will see the wind touched 50 or 60 miles an hour. that will make it feel colde

royal college of physicians suggested a quarter of all nhs doctors had eitherfallen ill or had to self—isolate because of concerns about a family member showing symptoms. it was the same for many nurses coronavirus would enable many to return to work if found to be in the clear. but the government's been slow to focus on testing in general, and in particular, for health workers. so what we are calling for is a national testing strategy, a strategy to ramp up the community testing and contact tracing, like we are seeing in other country, that is how they have been able to beat this virus or get this virus under control and suppressed. so now, nhs england is calling on hospitals to use 15% of their testing capability on staff. the government's going further, saying hospitals should use any spare laboratory capacity they have, to test as many nhs staff for the virus as possible. we wa nts the virus as possible. we wants to see more people tested, very rapidly, we do now have enough tests to be testing those people in critical conditions in hospitals, so much so that we can now move forward and test nhs workers and that is very important, because anyone going to work in those situations

royal college of physicians suggested a quarter of all nhs doctors had eitherfallen ill or had to self—isolate because of concerns about a family member showing symptoms. and it was the same for many nurses coronavirus would enable many to return to work if found to be in the clear. but the government's been slow to focus on testing in general, and in particular for health workers. so what we are calling for is a national testing strategy, a strategy to ramp up the community testing and contact tracing, like we are seeing in other countries, that is how other countries have been able to beat this virus or get this virus under control and suppressed. so now nhs england is calling on hospitals to use 15% of their testing capability on staff. the government's going further, saying hospitals should use any spare laboratory capacity they have, to test as many nhs staff for the virus as possible. we want to see more people tested, very rapidly. we do now have enough tests to be testing those people in critical conditions in hospitals, so much so that we can now move forward and test nhs workers and that is extremely important, because anyone going to work in those situations and doing frankly

donica now is the chief executive of the royal college of nursing. taff? well, i take offence that actually, we are saying healthcare workers are abusing or overusing ppe. i think what we know is that we don't have enough supply and not enough regular supply of ppe. we are going to be talking to matt hancock a little later on, just after eight o'clock. but his words were is, everybody should use the equipment they clinically need in line with the guidelines, no more and no less. why do you think he felt the need to say that? obviously he has been advised that? obviously he has been advised that some overuse of ppe going on, but actually, in my experience and what i am hearing on a day—to—day basis, that simply isn't true. there is in fact not enough ppe, so suffice to say we have nurses and doctors and other healthcare workers working in communities, working in social care, delivering care to patients without the right equipment. my inbox, on a daily basis, this is the number one issue notices are bringing to my attention, that they don't have adequat