Protection standards, as the virus swept the country. I feel incredibly passionate that no more people should suffer, that no more Health Workers should come to harm. Felix khor has been an nhs nurse for 30 years. Now hes fighting for his life. He loved nursing and he loved people. Hed use the skill and the knowledge and his own personality to. Make other peoples lives better. And he was always so happy when he felt hed done a good job. Felix was on the covid front line. He worked in a e. The hospital says all staff had enough protection, but felix didnt feel safe. He was angry because hed been issued with two paper masks for a 12 hour shift and he said, thats not enough, i want a separate mask for every patient i go in to. Felix caught the virus last month. Hes now on a ventilator, in the hospital where he worked. People shouldnt go into work and become ill and be damaged. And thats whats happened to felix. For weeks, the government has been dealing with criticism about stocks of personal protective equipment, or ppe. It says its delivered a billion items. But weve obtained documents from inside the supply chain that show the reality of whats been delivered in the past couple of months. They show that the government is counting items you might not think of as ppe such as cleaning equipment, waste bags, detergent and paper towels. More than half the items are surgical gloves and, in most cases, each individual glove is counted, rather than pairs. The second biggest item is plastic aprons that offer limited protection. The documents show how much ppe has been sent to each Hospital Trust in england. I can see here the Hospital Trust in southend thats where felix, the nurse who got covid, thats where he worked. This column shows the number of gowns that have been delivered that the nhs staff need to wear. In the five weeks before felix was hospitalised, the government delivered 360 gowns across the whole mid and south essex trust. Thats just ten a day. They had to buy more from other suppliers. This is the life saving equipment were talking about. The World Health Organization said Health Care Workers caring for Covid Patients should wear a gown, gloves, facemask and eye protection. These are some visors that have been made on home bought 3d printers. St Thomas Community have been making these for us. And theyre quite nice because you can actually see out of them. And the patient can see you . Yes, yeah. But this is what some of our nhs staff have been wearing. But the most perfect thing is a tight fitting goggle, because then the virus cant get through. Also, this is a science lab glasses. These arent brilliant because, again, you can get. Get underneath. But is that what some of the staff are wearing . Yes, yes. Weve had local people drop these off for me. Wow somebody who is doing some building work. Is it all stuff thats just been dropped off . Yes. Libby nolan is a senior nurse. She thought covid was going to kill her. My registrar became unwell and i became unwell and a few others within the team have become unwell. I had some very bleak hours. I dont want anyone to suffer this. The Welsh Government says more than a million pieces of ppe have been given to libbys hospital, but she thinks she was exposed because she didnt have the right kit. What was it like, what was the worst part . You cant get air in. Very, very constricted, tight. It feels like youre breathing through a straw. Why was that kit not good enough, from your point of view . Because there was no coverage. We had very simple aprons, very like the aprons youd serve food with. We had a mask, which is just a surgical mask. Some doctors and nurses say theyve been warned not to speak out about the crisis, but libbys a union rep and thinks people should know what conditions are like. Sorry. I feel incredibly passionate that no more people should suffer, that no more Health Workers should come to harm or, for some reason, that they cant speak out, that i will do it for them. Across the uk, images of doctors and nurses in home made kit have been posted online. Aprons made from bean bags, plastic bags and heads. Swimming goggles and other home supplied eye protection. And this nurse was not impressed with the official kit he had been supplied. This is a box of masks that we have been using today. You can see the white sticker saying december 19. So that is out of date. Stick that they have covered up, the out of date sticker, is out of date. This is what it has been like for the last month. Of course, stocks of ppe vary across the country. But some doctors working with Covid Patients but some doctors working with Covid Patients have decided to speak out. We have been put on the front line, to use government terminology, but without front line protection. We have been kind of sense to battle without any of the resources we need to fight it. I think people who feel that they would like to have the full ppe or people coming in and out of the department are not being given it, allowed it, because they are concerned the fault ppe will run out. Do you feel safe as you do yourjob . We know that this virus can kill people, we have seen Health Care Workers die from this virus. Obviously, there is concern among Health Care Workers and nhs workers and care workers about this virus. You would be inhuman if you didnt have that concern. Nearly 100 nhs workers have died from the virus so far. But did it have to be like this . A pandemic is not an unexpected event. For almost a decade, it has been designated the greatest threat to britain. Our hospital workers should be kept safe. The government says it has been preparing for a pandemic for years. This is a Public Information film from 2006. Pandemic flu is very infectious and it may make a large number of people ill. And some people will die. The governments plans were based on an outbreak of flu. We need your help to create a united front against the virus. There are some things you must do to help slow its spread. The government says covid i9 is a different disease come up with a higher hospitalisation rate. Wash your hands thoroughly and often. But the advice and ppe required are very similar for both diseases. To be ready for any pandemic, you need to stockpile because once it hits, every country with the disease needs ppe. This government pandemic guidance from 2009 gives a simple list of what is needed. A gown, the best type of facemask and eye protection. Pandemic stockpile is distributed from warehouses across the country like this one in derbyshire. The government says that having the stockpile is considered very high Quality International terms. But there is a problem with what has been bought. The government didnt stop these warehouses with all the equipment that was recommended. They didnt buy any hospital gowns at all. Panorama has discovered that just last year, the governments own advisers warned that gowns were needed in the stockpile, but still, none were bought. John ashton is a Public Health expert and long standing critic of the government. There is no excuse for not having adequate stockpiles. You need everything to protect against this kind of virus. Its breathtaking that there were no gowns at all in stock, breathtaking and we have discovered it wasntjust gowns left off the shopping list. The government also failed to by other essential items that would be needed in a pandemic. The government didnt buy any visors at all. There were no swabs either which makes testing for the virus more difficult, and the government did not buy a single body bag, despite the fact they were supposed to be preparing for a pandemic. And panorama has discovered that millions of respirator masks are unaccounted for stop 33 million were on the original stockpile shopping list, but only 12 million have been handed out, and the government refuses to explain where the other life saving masks have gone. The consequence of not planning, not ordering kit, not having stocks, not having stockpiles is that we are sending in to the front line doctors, nurses, other Health Workers and social care workers without the equipment to keep them safe. The government says. For a decade, we have failed to get the stockpile right, but when covid i9 first appeared to, we still had time. At the start of february, the European Centre of Disease Control issued a warning. They advised us what we needed to buy and how much. The document says we will need respirator masks, eye protection, gowns and gloves. For the most serious cases, around 20 sets of ppe per patient, per day. We should have been getting ready. February is when we started seeing the big outbreak in europe. So actually, february was our month to prepare. These four weeks of february were crucial. What would be the implications if you didnt take advantage of that four weeks of planning . They would be devastating. The government has been accused of failing to act quickly enough. This is the kind of opportunity we missed. This factory in bolton makes the protective fabric needed to make specialist ppe gowns and masks. They were not approached by the government in february. And in march, the Company Offered their services. I have personally written to government myself, written to mp5, and we have also written to Public Health england. At this stage, we have not really had a response. We filmed ten days after the Company Offered to help the uk, but they still had not heard back. This order is for the united states. Currently, that line is running for about five to six days a week and the capacity is really at 80 90 and being bought by america. So potentially trump is buying this uk capacity. Which, obviously we want to support the nhs if possible, but currently thats where this material is going. The factory is now finally providing materialfor the nhs through a private supplier. But in the missing weeks, it could have provided enough materialfor almost 300,000 gowns. The government has delivered just over 1. 3 million gowns during the entire covid crisis. But the nhs needs hundreds of thousands of gowns a day. 0ur documents show the government isnt getting close to that. The government failed to appreciate the enormity of what was coming our way at the end of january. They failed to get a grip. They took advice from too narrow a range of people and when things continued to escalate out of control, they started to spin the story to make out that actually they had been following the science and everything that they did made perfect sense. I think its disgraceful. The government says its had 9,000 offers of assistance which are being prioritised for larger companies. It says there are shortages of ppe across the world and it is doing everything to increase our stock levels. It delivered 183,000 gowns last friday. But it looks like we didnt stockpile the right kit, then we didnt react quickly enough. Nhs workers were let down. I feel really angry at the government that they had all this time. We had the luxury of time. We saw it coming. We should have used that time to prepare. They keep saying this unprecedented thing, this is completely. It is unprecedented but it wasnt unexpected. Applause and horns beep were now a nation in lockdown. 0ur Health Service is at the heart of the nations fight against the disease. This public demonstration of support means such a lot to those who work in the nhs. But some of them worry that this outpouring of emotion helps the government gloss over the shortages that are on some of the wards. As one intensive care nurse said to us, calling us heroesjust makes it ok when we die. Many front line staff are angry with the government. Some say theres a gap between what they hear is coming and what they see on the wards. Theres a big disparity between whats coming out of the officials mouths and whats happening on the frontline. So, there was a huge mismatch. When i spoke to dr asif, he was on a shift in a e and the ward had all but run out of protective gowns. In a e there was a box of four left. Four . Yes. Wow. How does that make you feel if there is only four gowns left and youre in an a e department with people coming through the door . Ijust hope theres more, ijust hope managers have started. They were off on the weekend. Ijust hope they get things sorted by mid week. When theres a shortage of gowns, staff use plastic aprons. The government told us short sleeves are better for hand hygiene and that long sleeve gowns can carry their own infection risk. Right, so, aprons are these, there is certainly not a shortage of these. But this is what youd expect a dinner lady to wear. Its like a pinny, its plastic, its flimsy. You open it up like this. You put it on your neck like this and then there you go. It does nothing. The government has consistently denied there is a shortage of ppe in the stockpile. Its blamed logistical problems and says its built a whole new distribution network. The army has also been brought in to sort it out. Weve spoken to a number of heads of procurement at nhs trusts. They didnt want to be identified but say the supply chain still isnt working. There is a complete lack of transparency from the government. They re creating panic, as we dont know if they can supply us, so were scrambling to get it elsewhere. Weve been told not to talk about the shortages outside meetings and calls. They dont want people to know how bad it is. The supply chain is erratic, unpredictable and incompetent. We might ask for 10,000 gowns and instead be sent 5,000 aprons. Were the ones getting a call in the middle of the night because staff are desperate. Were the ones getting out of bed to find gowns and masks. Its not just hospitals. Gps also need ppe. The World Health Organization says everyone dealing with Covid Patients should have the full kit. The supplies that were given were very limited. Weve not been able to rely upon the supply chain of the nhs. It has come in fits and starts. So, here theyve bought their own ppe. This surgery on merseyside is in a covid hotspot. The government says Health Workers in a gp surgery only need a plastic apron and a basic surgical mask. But doctors here dont believe that. You look tired. I think we would have to assume you have got coronavirus. The government says Health Workers in a gp surgery only need a plastic apron and a basic surgical mask. But doctors here dont believe that. People in healthcare losing their lives and being put at risk is something that keeps me awake every night. I wouldnt be prepared to work without an appropriate mask, face shield and a gown to treat people who are suspected of covid, or who have been diagnosed with covid. And i wouldnt ask my staff to do that. Weve investigated the government guidance telling nhs staff what ppe they should wear. It seems clear that rules have been changed because of the shortages. In january, the government designated covid 19 as whats called a high consequence Infectious Disease. The health and safety executive had already investigated what ppe was needed when tackling a high consequence Infectious Disease. It concluded all staff should wear a respiratorface mask, full face visor and a gown. And the government has a legal obligation to make sure nhs staff have the right kit. But six weeks ago, the government downgraded covid 19, the most consequential disease of the last 100 years was taken off the list of the highly consequential Infectious Diseases. Here are the recommended ppe components apron, alcohol hand rub, gloves. At the same time the virus was downgraded, the government weakened the guidelines on ppe. Step one, put on your disposable apron. Health workers were now told they were safe to wear the less protective aprons and surgical masks in all but the most dangerous situations. Carefully make sure this type of surgical facemask secured around the ears with elastic. This must have been done because they realised that they werent going to have enough equipment and they needed somehow to have a story that stacked up with actually being caught out on supplies. Should covid 19 be on that list . Covid 19 is the biggest Infectious Disease to hit this country in the last 100 years. Why on earth shouldnt it be in the most serious category of classification . The official reason for the downgrading was that there was now a lab test for the virus and covid 19s mortality rate was lower overall. The government told us Scientific Evidence evolves and plans are adapted accordingly. If you want to doff and don. Removing the disease from the list was backed by a scientific committee. But sources on that committee have told panorama that it had to be, in part, a pragmatic decision based on the availability of ppe. That is certainly the view of some on the ward. Staff think the guidelines are not about keeping them safe but making do with a shortage of ppe. Ppe has needed to be rationed now and it doesnt seem fair to me that Health Professionals who feel they are at risk, who may be at risk, are not being given that full ppe equipment because the government failed to prepare and failed to do the stockpiling that was needed for this equipment in advance. Where did that guidance leave nurses . Vulnerable. Vulnerable and at risk of their own health and safety and at risk of dying. Do you think some of your colleagues will die because their protective equipment is not good enough . Yes, i do. Yeah, ido. I do. The government says it has taken the right steps at the right time and has been guided, at all times, by the best scientific advice. Its been working day and night to battle against coronavirus and to protect our nhs and save lives. But as things stand, nhs staff in a e and covid wards are being issued protective kit that is not as good as what the World Health Organization recommends. I love the nhs and im proud of it and im so proud to be part of it. But i feel so ashamed by how the nhs has been treated. That weve been expected to battle this pandemic but weve just not been looked after at all. In southend, felix is still fighting for his life. Hes now been on a ventilator for almost four weeks. Felix is probably dying. And felix is every nurse, hes the best. Hes an exceptional man, hes an exceptional friend. But he is just like every other nurse. So many nhs staff have already died while trying to protect us from the disease. Covid 19 will be with us for months. How many lives will be lost because of the scandalous shortage of ppe . A very warm welcome to bbc news. If youre watching here in the uk, on pbs in america or around the globe. My names mike embley. Our top stories american coronavirus cases move past a million that is nearly a third of the total, worldwide. At least 30 of all deaths linked to coronavirus in england and wales are now happening in care homes. France is to ease its lockdown from next month, but masks will remain a way of life. And understanding immunity we have a special report on one of the major questions