Thank you for contacting me about PPE for NHS staff.

I would like to reassure you that continuing to ensure our frontline staff are properly protected is of paramount importance to me, and to my colleagues on all sides of Parliament.  

Over 3 billion items of PPE have been delivered since the start of the outbreak to 58,000 health and care settings.  Almost 28 billion items of PPE have been ordered overall from United Kingdom-based manufacturers and international partners to provide a continuous supply in the coming months and the Government is confident in the stocks and sources of supply of PPE to meet the needs of health and social care over the coming months.

FFP3 face masks are designed for use when carrying out potentially infectious aerosol generating procedures. Risk assessments in the workplace establish when different PPE is appropriate: FFP2 respirators may be more appropriate and deliver the required level of safety for the care a member of staff is delivering, FFP3 masks are not always necessary. I know that the Government has worked with the NHS and with a range of suppliers to ensure that health and care facilities have plenty of PPE of the correct standard. 

I will continue to monitor this issue closely. 

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.