Coronavirus: Jeremy Hunt’s officials blocked call for medics to have eye protection 3 years ago Former Health Secretary was in charge when medical advice to stockpile protective equipment in event of flu pandemic was rejected

NHS staff should have received certain protective equipment three years ago in the event of an influenza pandemic, but stockpiling it was considered too expensive by the Department of Health.

Officials working for then Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt rejected medical advice that eye protection should be provided to all healthcare professionals who have close contact with pandemic influenza patients. The advice was watered down after an “economic assessment” found a medical recommendation about providing visors or safety glasses would “substantially increase” the costs of stockpiling.

The documents, seen by the Guardian, may help explain the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the NHS that is hampering efforts by medical staff to manage the coronavirus outbreak.

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Mr Hunt, who was Health Secretary between 2012 and 2018 and now chairs the health select committee, has called for frontline staff battling the coronavirus to be better quipped. “It is absolutely heartbreaking when NHS frontline professionals don’t have the equipment that they need,” he said last week.

Mr Hunt’s spokeswoman said: “Jeremy does not believe he was personally involved in decisions about PPE for NHS staff, but was acutely aware of the shortage of funds in the NHS budget which was why that year he fought for and secured an £8bn rise in the NHS annual budget followed by a £20bn rise two years later.”

Doctors infecting patients

Fears have been raised that doctors could be infecting people with Covid-19 as they move between two sets of patients. A snapshot survey of 141 medics from 44 hospitals for the Society for Acute Medicine (SAM) also found that fewer than half of acute and emergency staff are satisfied with the PPE supplied to them in the fight against the coronavirus.

The survey found that 52 per cent of clinicians who looked after Covid-19 patients on acute medical units also looked after patients without the virus in the same shift, increasing the risk of cross infection.

Doctors are threatening to quit the profession unless they are properly equipped, and NHS trusts across England have been asking schools to donate science goggles due to the shortages. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has acknowledged “challenges” with the supply of protective material to NHS staff and has drafted in the army to get supplies to frontline workers.

More than 15 million face masks, 24.6 million gloves and 1.9 million sets of eye protection have been delivered to hospitals in recent days, according to the Department of Health.