NHS nurse quits Croydon hospital after six weeks without hand gel or masks

LONDON May 11: A nurse on the coronavirus front line said she quit after her hospital failed to provide adequate PPE, leaving her too scared to work, The Mirror newspaper reported.

Laura Demmen – who has a son aged five – revealed that she walked out after weeks working without hand gel, a face mask or gloves as the pandemic gathered pace.

She said when Covid-19 patients were first moved to intensive care, which shared a door with Laura’s ward, there was still no hand gel by her ward’s beds, or face masks for staff.

Laura, 33, who worked with cancer patients, said: “Every bed had no sanitiser and my manager said it’s because the housekeeper’s off work and there’s a shortage.

“But how are staff supposed to work with multiple patients if they can’t wash their hands in between?”

Laura, who walked out on her job at Croydon University Hospital in South London on March 15, said nurses were washing their hands in a kitchen during their shifts.

She officially resigned on April 27.