The MoH has asked clinics that don’t have enough PPE, defined as 1-2 weeks of likely requirements during a community Covid outbreak, to contact them by email, with a deadline of August 20th – see below for the full text.
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David Gollogly, Jasmine Mackay, Richard Chen, Kelvin Ward
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Pandemic Response Subcommittee
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Thank you for all your hard work responding to COVID. We want to touch base with you and ensure that you’ve got the PPE that you need in preparation for any further instances of community transmission and Alert Level changes.
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Earlier in the year, we provided the sector with contingency supply of PPE. We also updated the Ministry’s Principles of Supply for PPE to include a short blurb on this contingency stock and what it is intended for – see below.
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“The Ministry has also distributed contingency stock of PPE to providers, so they hold 1-2 weeks of PPE at estimated pandemic usage levels, for use in the event of raised Alert Levels. The benefit of organisations holding and maintaining a contingency supply of PPE is that they have what they need to hand when they need it. We will review holdings regularly and replenish contingency as required. Contingency supply supports the Ministry to make considered decisions for PPE supply, as we get a greater understanding of the scale and spread in situations of community transmission of COVID-19.”
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Would you be able to review the volume of stock you hold as contingency to determine if you have what you need and provide us with written confirmation. If you don’t have what you need, please let us know by return of email and please place an order for additional PPE via the PPE portal before 20 August 2021. If we do not hear from you by 20 August 2021, we will assume that you hold sufficient PPE to respond in the event of community transmission of COVID-19 and Alert Level changes.
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Please bear in mind that to access P2/N95 particulate respirators from the Ministry of Health’s centralised supply of PPE in line with the interim guidance for utilising P2/N95s in general practice and urgent care settings, each practice needs to complete fit testing for staff. We’ve developed a declaration form for practices and urgent care to complete, which is attached to this email for easy reference. If you’ve already completed a declaration, please disregard.
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Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns regarding your PPE requirements.
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COVID-19 Health Supply Chain
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