Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the British Medical Association’s recent letter to his Department on the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) designed to meet the differing needs of individual healthcare workers; and what steps he is taking to ensure that all workers who require PPE have equipment that fits them properly.

We are firmly committed to ensuring that the personal protective equipment (PPE) provided to our healthcare workers is of the required quality, size, and that it fits. We actively identify user needs and take appropriate action to incorporate user feedback in PPE provision, including on gender and cultural specificity.

Our buying teams are aware of the different categories to buy against and source as many different sizes of gowns, facemasks, and other items of critical PPE, as possible. We are improving the availability and quality of fit testing of PPE.