Wirral Council hub issues 8m pieces of PPE

A hub organised by Wirral Council has revealed it has issued more than 8m items of PPE since the beginning of the pandemic to help keep hospitals, schools, care homes and emergency services safe.

The local authority-managed Infection Control Measures Hub, which oversees the distribution of PPE for the Liverpool city region, has operated around the clock, seven days a week, since opening at the beginning of April.

Since then, time the hub has delivered:

• 2,400,000 gloves
• 3,640,000 masks
• 1,350,000 aprons
• 180,000 pieces of eye protectors

The Hub supplies hundreds of organisations, including the area’s six councils, CCG’s, NHS and Hospital Trusts, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service and Merseyside Police, Mersey Tunnels Police, children’s homes, emergency opticians and dentists, funeral services, hospices and Liverpool prison.

In Wirral alone, it has delivered 1.9 million pieces of PPE to care providers, schools and nurseries and children’s homes.

As well as procuring supplies through Wirral’s own procurement service and a Merseyside joint purchasing initiative, many local organisations have generously donated PPE for the Hub to distribute, including, The Engineering College, North West Ambulance Service, Merseyside Police and Universities in Liverpool.

‘The serious problems the whole country faced in securing and distributing PPE at the start of the pandemic are well known and should never be underestimated or forgotten,’ said council leader, Cllr Pat Hackett.

‘But through the hard work and expertise of a small team, backed by generous support from partners and local businesses, we were able to turn that situation around and establish an operation that is being held up as a national exemplar.

‘Their efforts to get PPE to where it’s needed quickly has stopped countless transmissions of this terrible virus and will continue to save many lives,’ added Cllr Hackett.

‘I couldn’t be more proud of what has been achieved by everyone at the Infection Control Measures Hub as it is yet another example of how Wirral has pulled together and led the way.’

Photo Credit – Klaus Hausmann (Pixabay)