Coronavirus: Nurses should refuse to work if they aren't given PPE, new guidance says – Sky News, Sky.com
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Nurses should refuse to treat coronavirus patients “as a last resort” if they are not given adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), according to new guidance.
The Royal College of Nursing ( RCN) issued the advice to its members in a bid to prevent more frontline deaths following criticism of the government about the supply of protective gear for NHS staff.
Ministers have been accused of being too slow to deliver the equipment, putting health workers at risk and meaning those treating patients with COVID – 30 could pass on the virus.
At least NHS workers are known to have died after contracting
coronavirus .
The RCN’s new guidance states that if sufficient PPE cannot be supplied and treatment cannot be delayed or carried out in another format, nurses should decline to work.
A spokesman for the union said: “For nursing staff, this will go against every instinct. But their safety must not be compromised.”
The RCN said it would provide legal assistance to those making what it acknowledged was an “enormously difficult decision”.
It also warned nurses that they could face criminal prosecution for corporate manslaughter in “very rare” cases for walking away.
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