NHS gown shortage: Trust director asks for Burberry's Castleford number to aid with crisis

Burberry is now making gowns for NHS staff from its Albion Street base in Castleford.

The clothes company turned its hand to making long-sleeved disposable gowns and masks for hospitals at its Albion Street factory when the coronavirus outbreak started.

The government has been criticised for a chronic lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), including gowns, for NHS frontline staff.

The director of an English NHS trust, who was not identified, called the BBC on Thursday, and said with, "Less than 24 hours supply and (with the) weekend coming up" he was hugely concerned.

He asked for contact details for Burberry, effectively bypassing the Department of Health's own supply chain.

The Department of Health said it was "working around the clock" to get PPE to staff all over the country.

Last month, Burberry also said it was helping to fund research into a vaccine for coronavirus, alongside manufacturing PPE.

The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Pinderfields, Pontefract and Dewsbury Hopsitals, said earlier this week that it had an ongoing shortage of PPE.

Trust chief Martin Barkley said the situation was a "major concern" and had been a source of stress for staff.

Local Democracy Reporting Service