THE Royal Bournemouth Hospital has moved to reassure people after a letter allegedly from a nurse was posted online.

The author of the letter, which was posted on the Web Socialist Web Site, claimed they were a nurse in the ‘red zone’, treating patients with coronavirus.

The letter alleged: “We have 44 coronavirus positive patients with six of them being treated in the ICU. Our nearby hospital, Poole General Hospital, has got 32 positive patients with one third of them treated in the ICU. We sadly heard the news that two of our staff members are being treated in the ICU here in Bournemouth.”

It also claimed PPE policies were wrong from the government and the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, stating nurses are made to wear a “flimsy apron.”

The Daily Echo has made attempts to verify the authenticity of the letter with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).

However, the RCN said: “We are not aware currently of any shortages of equipment in Bournemouth and we are led to understand that they are following national guidelines on its use.”

A spokesperson for the RBCH NHS Foundation Trust said: “The safety and wellbeing of our staff and patients is our number one priority. Like every trust in the country, we are following national guidelines for personal protective equipment (PPE) from Public Health England.

“This includes details on which PPE is appropriate for different patient-care areas within the hospital. We are keeping in close touch with PHE and should any changes be made with their guidelines as the pandemic develops, we will follow their advice.

“We have stocks of the PPE needed to protect our staff as the number of patients with Covid-19 is forecast to increase. We have started staff testing which will be vital to help us manage staffing levels, including those working in critical areas and will increase this over the coming weeks.

“For staff wellbeing, we have a number of support systems in place across our hospitals, including counselling, psychiatric support and wellbeing areas. We also have a helpline and we encourage any staff with issues or concerns to contact us through that.”