Petition · past parliament
End NHS PPE Shortages - use reusable PPE Spacesuits instead of single-use PPE
Rejected
17 signatures
What the petition asks
Current PPE is designed to be worn once, then thrown away. This is not practical at scale, leading to constant supply shortages. Instead every nurse should be equipped with a PPE Spacesuit. This can be worn, washed and reused hundreds of times. Before disrobing, the whole suit can be disinfected.
NHS workers are particularly vulnerable to Covid-19 given a high dosage of the virus may be able to overwhelm the immune system of even a healthy person. During removal of current PPE there's a risk disrobing shakes micro droplets of the living virus back into the air, only to be inhaled. However, a Spacesuit can act as a diving suit, with the wearer immersing into liquid disinfectant to kill any virus on the outside of the suit, minutes before stepping out of the liquid and safely disrobing.
Why it was rejected
It asked for something that is not the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament.
Guidance on Covid-19 and the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) is a matter for Public Health England, and not the Government or Parliament.
We have published the following petitions, which you might like to sign:
Provide all workers dealing with the public PPE to be protected from COVID-19: Provide all workers dealing with the public PPE to be protected from COVID-19
Protect essential workers from contracting and spreading Covid-19: Protect essential workers from contracting and spreading Covid-19.
Supply PPE to all Health and Social Care workers including community carers: Supply PPE to all Health and Social Care workers including community carers
Provide adequate PPE equipment for medical professionals working with COVID-19: Provide adequate PPE equipment for medical professionals working with COVID-19
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support
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 can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/
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 coronavirus outbreak.
Find out more: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/192/the-governments-response-to-coronavirus/
We have published the following petitions, which you might like to sign:
Provide all workers dealing with the public PPE to be protected from COVID-19: Provide all workers dealing with the public PPE to be protected from COVID-19
Protect essential workers from contracting and spreading Covid-19: Protect essential workers from contracting and spreading Covid-19.
Supply PPE to all Health and Social Care workers including community carers: Supply PPE to all Health and Social Care workers including community carers
Provide adequate PPE equipment for medical professionals working with COVID-19: Provide adequate PPE equipment for medical professionals working with COVID-19
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support
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 can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/
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 coronavirus outbreak.
Find out more: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/192/the-governments-response-to-coronavirus/
Timeline
| 28 Apr 2020 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 26 May 2020 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
17
Status
Rejected
Rejected
26 May 2020
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.