RCSLT continues campaign for better PPE

The RCSLT today continued its fight for better personal protective equipment for speech and language therapists and all health and care staff.

It joined with a coalition of professional bodies and unions to call again for the government to update its guidance on PPE to bring it in line with scientific evidence and international best practice.

The group wrote publicly to Prime Minister Boris Johnson in February 2021 to express concerns that many staff still do not have access to the FFP3 masks they need. However, the response from Number 10 failed to recognise the growing evidence that COVID-19 can be spread in tiny particles known as aerosols.

The concern comes as news of the spread of new variants of concern, especially an Indian variant in parts of the North West and London, raise the prospect of a further wave of cases. Conservative Health and Social Care Select Committee Chair, Jeremy Hunt MP, has also publicly acknowledged that COVID-19 is airborne.

Read the full press release (PDF)