Free PPE extended until June for care providers but they say supplies aren't enough

Free personal protective equipment (PPE) for COVID-19 is available to care providers until the end of June 2021 but many care homes and home care providers argue the amount available is not enough to protect people in their care.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced it is extending the provision of free PPE to care providers through its portal, after initially offering it for free until March 2021.

The care sector has welcomed the news that care homes and home care providers who are registered with the Care Quality Commission can continue to access free PPE but it says existing limits to the amount of PPE care providers can order falls short of what they require to keep people safe.

Reports by care providers about their inability to access sufficient free PPE were highlighted in Autumn in the Lets Talk About Care podcast.

The National Care Forum (NCF) has said the government’s free PPE offer fails to meet care providers' PPE needs after an NCF poll, found that despite registering on the government's portal, the majority of care providers are forced to purchase extra supplies elsewhere to get enough supplies.

The survey revealed only 33 per cent using the free PPE portal received enough PPE supplies in November. Some 67 per cent on average, were receiving less than half (48 per cent) of their PPE requirements.

The findings were revealed in the NCF’s Pulse Survey, which interviewed 1,240 care and support services in England between 1-31 October.

NCF executive director Vic Rayner said in November: “There has been a very high take up of the PPE portal, but only 33 per cent of those who have been using the portal have found that they have been allocated sufficient PPE to meet their needs in the last month.

“So there is a gap between what is being described as free PPE to meet all COVID-19 requirements and what is happening on the ground.”

Order limits

The current order limits are set according to the size of care providers. Care homes are split into five different categories according to number of beds, with different order limits attributed to each.

Home care providers are split into seven different categories according to number of clients, with different order limits attributed to each.

Care homes with between 10 and 24 beds can order up to (per week): 400 IIR masks, 2,000 aprons, 1,500 pairs of gloves, five bottles of 500ml hand hygiene, 300 visors, 200 FFP masks and 200 gowns.

Care homes with 100 or more beds can order a week up to: 2,500 IIR masks, 9,000 aprons, 8,000 pairs of gloves, 12 bottles of 500ml hand hygiene, 300 visors, 200 FFP masks, 200 gowns.

Home care providers with fewer than 20 clients can order per week up to: 300 IIR masks, 500 aprons. 500 pairs of gloves, three bottles of 500ml hand hygiene, 300 visors, 200 FFP masks and 200 gowns.

DHSC guidance states: “We’ll keep order limits under review to make sure these are based on the latest public health guidance, COVID-19 trends, PPE requirements modelling and analysis, and provider feedback.”