I'm not a political person - can barely tell you who the politicians are, but could someone please explain this to me. Why is everyone blaming the government for the shortage of PPE items in hospitals, care homes etc when those places are either privately owned or run by hospital administrators/boards who order their own supplies of what is needed in their workplaces? I can't understand why the government is to blame when surely it is the Stock/Supply Managers in these places.
The most basic duty of a government is to protect its people. The UK government has to have a strategic response to things like pandemics. If there is a failure in the private sector, or amongst hospital boards, it's ultimately the government's responsibility to uncover and make sure those failings are rectified.
In this sort of crisis you can't just allow individual hospital trusts and private care providers to work things out by themselves, there needs to be a coordinated approach from government.
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
When I worked in IT I had to write a disaster plan to cover the possible scenario of all my computer systems being out of action at the same time via fire, terrorist activity etc. I would have thought that each care home/hospital would have a similar disaster plan to cover something like a major outbreak of flu or a pandemic and have the resources, in their case, in stock, in my case off site, to cope with such a disaster. I really cannot understand why their lack of resources (PPE) is all being blamed on the government.
'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
I'm not a political person - can barely tell you who the politicians are, but could someone please explain this to me. Why is everyone blaming the government for the shortage of PPE items in hospitals, care homes etc when those places are either privately owned or run by hospital administrators/boards who order their own supplies of what is needed in their workplaces? I can't understand why the government is to blame when surely it is the Stock/Supply Managers in these places.
The jist of it seems to be that they're bound by budgets and procurement procedures as indivudual NHS trusts or hospitals so the government should be using it's massive buying power and emergency funds to support them. Otherwise you get the situation where Richard Branson is suing the NHS on one hand while asking for a government bailout on the other. Usual supply routes are also tapped out so one main source of equipment via the government would save lives more rapidly than a lot of organisations all running around fighting each other for limited supplies.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
I have a feeling that the competitive tendering that was enforced in the 80s and 90s has resulted, austerity apart, from the cheapest option being the almost automatic selection. Thus, supplies from local manufacturers, who cannot compete on price because of higher wages and overheads, have been pushed out of the market, and sources from the far East have stepped in. It is fair to say that there was (is?) a lot of waste in procurement for the NHS and any other publicly owned entity, but superficially, buying in "just in time" (a concept never designed for the likes of the NHS) has seemed economically sound. I rather think that few, if any, of those in charge have heard of the "total cost concept" ie a saving "here" can mean increased costs "there".
I am no fan of this government, but I completely agree with you @hogweed. Every country in the world has faced these problems and none have coped particularly well. Currently we are using 150000 disposable gowns a day, I have no idea how planning could have coped with this number. I was working in ICU during the last 2 pandemics, both of which mercifully turned out to be far less bad than predicted, this one is totally different and I am pleasantly surprised how well we have coped, so far.
How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team
Not sure I dare say it, but perhaps people who have worked in the medical profession can comment.
The press and plenty of official bodies seem to be full of criticism for the government over PPE.
I'm wondering why it has just been assumed it was the governments responsibility?
We can all see shortcomings with hindsight, but it seems the government is currently pulling out all the stops in a massive effort to address the PPE shortfall.
It does though make me wonder if the organizations that need it, ought to have stocked more of it in the first place.
It does though make me wonder if the organizations that need it, ought to have stocked more of it in the first place.
Given how tight NHS budgets are at the moment I'm sure they would have been criticised for wasting money on stockpiling kit they might never need. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
It does though make me wonder if the organizations that need it, ought to have stocked more of it in the first place.
Given how tight NHS budgets are at the moment I'm sure they would have been criticised for wasting money on stockpiling kit they might never need. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.
Good point, but then that still doesn't mean the government were responsible and should have stockpiled PPE 'just in case' either. They would probably have been ridiculed if they had.
It seems nobody was really prepared for what happened. I was one of those who followed what was happening in Wuhan and thought though distant, it was really serious. Seems hardly a single government in the world took the same view. So it seems harsh that the UK government is now being criticised so heavily on the PPE issue.
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In this sort of crisis you can't just allow individual hospital trusts and private care providers to work things out by themselves, there needs to be a coordinated approach from government.
It is fair to say that there was (is?) a lot of waste in procurement for the NHS and any other publicly owned entity, but superficially, buying in "just in time" (a concept never designed for the likes of the NHS) has seemed economically sound.
I rather think that few, if any, of those in charge have heard of the "total cost concept" ie a saving "here" can mean increased costs "there".
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Every country in the world has faced these problems and none have coped particularly well.
Currently we are using 150000 disposable gowns a day, I have no idea how planning could have coped with this number.
I was working in ICU during the last 2 pandemics, both of which mercifully turned out to be far less bad than predicted, this one is totally different and I am pleasantly surprised how well we have coped, so far.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
The press and plenty of official bodies seem to be full of criticism for the government over PPE.
I'm wondering why it has just been assumed it was the governments responsibility?
We can all see shortcomings with hindsight, but it seems the government is currently pulling out all the stops in a massive effort to address the PPE shortfall.
It does though make me wonder if the organizations that need it, ought to have stocked more of it in the first place.
It seems nobody was really prepared for what happened. I was one of those who followed what was happening in Wuhan and thought though distant, it was really serious. Seems hardly a single government in the world took the same view. So it seems harsh that the UK government is now being criticised so heavily on the PPE issue.