A WEYMOUTH doctor and Dorset councillor has claimed that the equipment being provided to NHS workers during the coronavirus pandemic is not good enough to protect them from the disease.

Cllr Jon Orrell, who is a general practitioner at Royal Crescent Surgery in Weymouth, made a video in which he mocked that medieval doctors had better protective equipment.

In the video, Cllr Orrell compares the NHS-provided personal protective equipment (PPE) with the levels that the World Health Organisation recommends and a medieval plague doctor outfit.

He said: “Here’s the basic model which we are given to work with in the NHS. Bare arms and a simple mask which doesn’t stop the virus [. . .] in a sneeze.

“Next, we have the more advanced PPE as recommended by the World Health Organisation with a proper virus-filtering mask.

“Just to contrast what we had in the medieval times, a decent plague doctor fully covered. So, much better than what we are supplied with in the NHS.”

At the end, he points to the WHO-recommended outfit and says “this is what we need.”

Although the video - recorded at home with his family - was meant as a joke, Cllr Orrell said the current levels of PPE given to many in the NHS are not good enough and needs to be brought to WHO standards.

He added: “I was slightly joking, saying that they were better protected in medieval times, but that is the basic level of PPE given to GPs and most hospital carers. The one in the middle is used in intensive care and around the rest of the world. If you look at reports from other countries that’s what they are using and that is the WHO standards.

“The problem is they didn’t stockpile gowns and proper masks after Operation Cygnus (Exercise Cygnus, an operation aimed at testing the ability of the NHS to respond to a potential pandemic).

“We need to make sure that the front line is protected and get our PPE up to the level of the WHO recommendations. The masks we are given will protect you from coughing but not from sneezing or droplets in the air.”

Cllr Orrell said healthcare workers are buying recommended masks from alternative suppliers themselves to make sure they are protected while working.