Portsmouth Labour Party Standing up for you and our city
Dozens of British companies have told the Labour Party that their offer to help the Government provide PPE to frontline NHS staff has been ignored.
Over the weekend, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Rachel Reeves wrote to Michael Gove expressing concerns about the shortages of PPE.
Since then, 36 British companies have approached the Labour Party to say that their offers to help the Government provide PPE to frontline staff “have not received a reply”.
This includes:
- Issa Exchange Ltd in Birmingham that told Labour it offered a quarter of a million aprons and masks
- Network Medical Products in Ripon, which says it can provide 100,000 face visors per week
- CQM Learning, which says it can provide 8,000 face shields per day
As key workers across the country warn about a lack of PPE provision, analysis suggests these companies alone could provide tens of thousands of masks, gowns and aprons every day to NHS and social care staff.
This morning The Guardian reported that the Government missed opportunities to secure at least 16 million face masks for NHS staff in the month.
Labour has passed the details of these companies over to the Government to help support the national effort to get equipment to the frontline.
In a letter to Michael Gove, Rachel Reeves MP, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, said:
“You and your officials and those at the Department for Health and Social Care will be best placed to validate what capability and capacity these firms have, but as they have not received a reply after contacting the Government, I wanted to ensure that the Cabinet Office was aware of them.
“Of these firms, if just one, five or 10 were able to contribute to the national effort of ensuring that our NHS and care workers – and indeed anybody who needs to use some form of Personal Protective Equipment and clothing – could be better protected, or just one hospital or care home were able to access adequate supplies of the PPE they need, I know you will agree that that would go a long way and make a big difference.”