What assessment has the Welsh Government made of the cost and policy implications of providing FFP3 respirators to frontline NHS staff?
Ensuring that frontline staff have the correct Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has been a consistent priority for Welsh Government and I am pleased that, since the start of the pandemic, more than 1.2 billion items of PPE have been issued across health and social care.
FFP3 masks are already available to all staff, in accordance with guidance, when performing aerosol generating procedures (AGPs) and when a local risk assessment shows a continuing risk of transmission despite other Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures being in place. To be effective FFP3 masks require fit testing and also facilities for donning and doffing and disposal
We, like other UK countries, follow the evidence based UK IPC guidance which is based upon a continuous review of all the available world evidence
The Chief Executive Officer for NHS Wales has written to health boards to remind them of their responsibility to provide respiratory protective equipment (RPE) in accordance with the guidance.
The Programme for Government commits us to providing free PPE to health and social care for as long as is needed to deal with the pandemic underpinned by the right level of funding.