£1m cash boost for PPE to support frontline workers
Care homes, vulnerable people and frontline workers will be issued with protective equipment thanks to a £1 million council cash boost.
Walsall Council’s cabinet approved recommendations to provide an extra £1.2 million to buy gear including face masks and gloves for vulnerable staff and residents.
In April, leader Councillor Mike Bird approved to spend just over £1 million for personal protective equipment (PPE) to cover the period between May and August.
The latest funding will ensure the borough is well stocked up until December this year.
Councillor Rose Martin, portfolio holder for adult social care, told a cabinet meeting on Wednesday the equipment was important in the social care sector as well as schools since phased reopening began.
She added that the town’s clinical commissioning group will be recharged, wherever possible, for PPE bought for the wider Walsall population.
She said: “This is for the ongoing sourcing and purchasing of personal protective equipment to support children, social care staff and the care market across Walsall whose usual PPE supplies is disrupted.
“The additional funding will also secure PPE to support the re-introduction of children and teaching staff back into education and to support the council’s reset planning as we reintroduce the wider workforce back to buildings safely.”
Last month, it emerged that Walsall had the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Black Country.
Fresh data also placed Walsall in the top 10 for highest death rates in the UK and bosses are keen to limit the spread of the virus in the borough.
