Access to personal protective equipment in healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom: results from a nationwide cohort study (UK-REACH).

BACKGROUND: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at high risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Effective use of personal protective equipment (PPE) reduces this risk. We sought to determine the prevalence and predictors of self-reported access to appropriate PPE (aPPE) for HCWs in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We conducted cross sectional analyses using data from a nationwide questionnaire-based cohort study administered between December 2020-February 2021. The outcome was a binary measure of self-reported aPPE (access all of the time vs access most of the time or less frequently) at two timepoints: the first national lockdown in the UK in March 2020 (primary analysis) and at the time of questionnaire response (secondary analysis). RESULTS: Ten thousand five hundred eight HCWs were included in the primary analysis, and 12,252 in the secondary analysis. 35.2% of HCWs reported aPPE at all times in the primary analysis; 83.9% reported aPPE at all times in the secondary analysis. In the primary analysis, after adjustment (for age, sex, ethnicity, migration status, occupation, aerosol generating procedure exposure, work sector and region, working hours, night shift frequency and trust in employing organisation), older HCWs and those working in Intensive Care Units were more likely to report aPPE at all times. Asian HCWs (aOR:0.77, 95%CI 0.67-0.89 [vs White]), those in allied health professional and dental roles (vs those in medical roles), and those who saw a higher number of COVID-19 patients compared to those who saw none (≥ 21 patients/week 0.74, 0.61-0.90) were less likely to report aPPE at all times. Those who trusted their employing organisation to deal with concerns about unsafe clinical practice, compared to those who did not, were twice as likely to report aPPE at all times. Significant predictors were largely unchanged in the secondary analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Only a third of HCWs in the UK reported aPPE at all times during the first lockdown and that aPPE had improved later in the pandemic. We also identified key determinants of aPPE during the first UK lockdown, which have mostly persisted since lockdown was eased. These findings have important implications for the safe delivery of healthcare during the pandemic.

Recommended antimicrobial therapy for common inpatient infections: a comparative review of guidelines across 51 hospital trusts in England.

BACKGROUND: The number of different antimicrobial recommendations between hospital trusts for the same indication in England is unknown. AIM: We aimed to evaluate the heterogeneity of antimicrobial recommendations for seven common inpatient infections across hospital trusts in England and evaluate changes to recommendations following introduction of national (National Institute for Healthcare and Excellence, NICE) and international (WHO) antimicrobial guidelines. METHODS: Guidelines published on the MicroGuide smartphone application were collected from December 2017 to February 2018 and re-evaluated between December 2019 and February 2020. The following indications were assessed: community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) CURB65 score ≥3, hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP), infective exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (iCOPD), cellulitis, uncomplicated urinary tract infection (uUTI), intra-abdominal infection (IAI) and sepsis of unknown source (SUS). On follow-up, compliance against WHO WATCH antibiotic and NICE recommendations was evaluated. RESULTS: Guidelines were obtained predominantly from England. Antibiotic regimens between hospitals became increasingly diverse across indications in the following order: uUTI, cellulitis, iCOPD, CAP, HAP, IAI and SUS. A piperacillin/tazobactam-based regimen was recommended in HAP (59%), SUS (39%) and IAI (30%). After 2 years, 107 changes were made to 357 antibiotic regimen recommendations; the overall number of regimens using piperacillin-tazobactam and WHO WATCH antibiotics remained similar. Compliance of recommendations with NICE guidelines as follows: iCOPD (100% adherent), uUTI (98%), cellulitis (90%), CAP (43%) and HAP (27%). CONCLUSION: The heterogeneity of antibiotic recommendations increased as the indicated infection was more severe, with broader underlying bacterial causes. Piperacillin-tazobactam remains favoured in antibiotic regimens, despite not recommended in WHO and NICE guidance.