Staff given 'wrong protective masks' for swine flu

Nurses in Wales have claimed that staff tackling swine flu had been given the wrong protective masks.

Instead of the specialised fluid repellent masks, frontline staff had been given ordinary surgical masks which do little to protect them, reports Walesonline.

The mistake has been blamed on a mix-up in orders for the masks.

One NHS worker from Swansea, who asked not to be named, said: "We were all given masks but then they sent out a letter to everyone to say they were the wrong ones and would have to be replaced."

The nurse said that staff had a right to be protected but felt let down by management skills as it had put them at increased risk.

Staff in England, the nurse believes, had been given the right masks but their Welsh counterparts were in potential danger, and that it was: "One of the problems with having a devolved health service."

Martin Semple, of the Royal College of Nursing in Wales, told the news provider he had been made aware of the problem by a number of members.

He said that staff had a supply of the masks needed to deal with the patients with the most serious forms of swine flu but they do not have the droplet-repellent masks.

Last month, legal experts said that employers who fail to adequately protect staff from swine flu could be in breach of health and safety legislation.