Thousands of healthcare workers and patients in the system have been put at risk as recent tests have revealed that a million FFP3 masks which were distributed for use in the NHS have failed to meet the approved standards. Furthermore, the masks also had invalid CE safety markings—a symbol that assures compliance with European standards.
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Faulty masks
The tests were carried out in February, and the British Standards Institution shared the concerning results with NHS staff earlier this month.
The masks in question were branded ‘Fang Tian’ and were distributed by Polyco Healthline, who has already supplied the NHS with over a billion pieces of PPE that they say was done with no issues. A spokesperson from the company told BBC:
We are proud to have supplied the NHS with over one billion pieces of our branded PPE without any issues.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) stated that around 1.12 million masks that were in use or in store were recalled, and that the affected products only amounted to a very small percentage of the overall stocks.
Investigating the problem
They’ve assured that alternatives will be provided, but experts are concerned about how these defective pieces got into the system in the first place. Dr. Vishal Sharma from the British Medical Association doctors’ union said:
There are serious questions that need answering: how did they end up within the supply chain, let alone being distributed to hospitals? Why were problems not identified earlier? How many were used by healthcare workers before the recall, and did any staff become sick, or worse, after wearing them?
According to Sara Gorton, the head of public services union Unison, all employers of health staff should investigate the matter and report the incidents to the Health and Safety Executive. She told BBC:
All health staff exposed to Covid while treating patients deserved safety kit that met the most stringent standards. Clearly this wasn't the case/
Wherever they were put at risk by sub-standard PPE, their employer has to investigate fully and report any incidents to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
