Petition · past parliament
Update the PPE guidelines for medical staff in the UK to meet WHO guidelines.
Rejected
21 signatures
What the petition asks
Please update the Public Health England PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) guidelines for medical staff in the UK, treating patients with COVID-19, to -at least- meet and aim to exceed World Health Organisation guidelines.
In March PHE downgraded the guidelines for PPE for UK medical staff significantly. During the current pandemic medical staff have been actively engaged in trying to limit the human cost of this disease, often at significant personal risk. In Italy around 10% of infections are in healthcare professionals, seriously compromising the country’s ability to fight the epidemic. This is despite following full WHO PPE guidelines. NHS staff deserve better than losing even this basic protection.
Why it was rejected
There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.
You may wish to sign this petition calling for the same action: Provide adequate PPE equipment for medical professionals working with COVID-19
Advice on the use of personal protective equipment is a matter for Public Health England, not the Government or Parliament.
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
UK Government website: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coranavirus outbreak.
Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/
Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/
Advice on the use of personal protective equipment is a matter for Public Health England, not the Government or Parliament.
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
UK Government website: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coranavirus outbreak.
Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/
Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/
Timeline
| 22 Mar 2020 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 31 Mar 2020 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
21
Status
Rejected
Rejected
31 Mar 2020
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.