Some good news at last for social care this week, that temporary VAT zero rating for Personal Protective Equipment has been agreed to aid sectors that cannot recover VAT on such goods due to their VAT exempt status. This will help care homes, to relieve the burden of VAT on the price of purchasing PPE used for protection from coronavirus by front line workers.
This measure is effective from May 1st – July 31st 2020 .
Products covered by the zero rate include:
- disposable gloves
- disposable plastic aprons
- disposable fluid-resistant coveralls or gowns
- surgical masks – including fluid-resistant type IIR surgical masks
- filtering face piece respirators
- eye and face protection – including single or reusable full face visors or goggles
Full details can be viewed at: www.gov.uk
As PPE as well as other products continue to remain a hot topic in the news, we receive many calls from customers wanting to check on our stock levels and supply chains of vital products. As a result, we thought we would take the opportunity in this week’s blog to update you with where we are with our stock levels and what we do have to offer you to help you to protect your staff and residents during the COVID-19 epidemic.
Please be assured of our continued integrity throughout these unprecedented times, that we are working in partnership with our suppliers and have made a commitment to them that we will only supply essential items of PPE to front line care workers and that we will not artificially inflate any of our pricing.
Disposable Gloves
We are currently continuing to receive ‘business as usual’ monthly stock levels on our medial grade vinyl gloves, and we continue to manage our stock by prioritising our existing customers requirements exclusively. You may notice we have disabled certain products on our website, this is to protect certain lines to ensure we have sufficient stock available for our loyal and existing customers.
The supply of nitrile gloves continues to be a challenge and at the moment we are being conditioned that this may not change until July.
Disposable Aprons
The supply chain on disposable aprons is quite challenging at the moment with our regular supplier quoting us dates in July for our next shipment, and we are getting close to exhausting our current stock levels.
We are following up some potential supply opportunities, and whilst we remain hopeful that we will be able to obtain additional stock in the coming weeks, we would always also want to remain transparent with our customers and not promise something we can’t deliver on. So we will keep you updated as and when we have more news on stock availability of these items.
Face Masks
We are continuing to promote our alternative UK manufactured non-disposable respirator face masks which are now in stock and available for delivery. 
The manufacturers have put a lot of thought into the design, functionality and safety of this mask to ensure it is:
- lightweight and comfortable for the wearer
- meets infection control protocols and being
- is effective against both droplets and airborne particles
- superior in quality to the surgeons masks and
- giving peace of mind to both staff and providers that they are getting enhanced protection.
Eye Protection
We have secured a credible supply of CE marked disposable lightweight face shield with soft elasticated strap and an anti-fog coating which protects the face and eyes from splashing or spraying of infectious or hazardous substances.
The disposable face shields are manufactured from optically clear polyester for maximum visibility, whilst the soft elastic strap and PU foam headband provide additional, long-term comfort and durability.
The product can be worn with or without additional face protection, such as prescription or protective eyewear and face masks.
Key Features
- Anti-fog protection
- Optically clear visor for maximum visibility
- PU foam headband for long-term comfort
- Soft elasticated strap
- Lightweight design
- Protects the face and eyes from splashing or spraying
- Can be worn with or without eyewear protection and face masks
- CE Marked
Hand Hygiene 
Effective hand cleansing is still classed as the best first line of defence against coronavirus and 
we are now receiving regular deliveries again of our best selling Cutan Foaming Soap and the 1 Litre dispensers for safe dispensing.
Hand Sanitising with an alcohol based sanitiser ( with a minimum of 60% alcohol as an active ingredient, compliant with BE EN 1500:2013) will kill germs and provide a high level of skin disinfection on visible clean hands.
We now have good stock levels of Sterile 73% Alcohol based Gel Sanitiser available in 12x500ML bottles.
A quick acting, non-tainting food safe alcohol hand rub approved to both BS EN 1500 and BS EN 2176, Sterile is suitable for frequent use in medical and care service applications and is effective against a wide range of common organisms.
Built in skin conditioners prevent drying of skin whilst not leaving any sticky residue.
Proven to kill Influenza Type A Flu Virus Effective against Avian and Swine flu viruses Kills 99.999% of E-Coli and MRSA.
Premium Red Soluble Strip Laundry Sacks
Our premium quality laundry sacks offer a hygienic solution to handling soiled laundry and avoid double handling of dirty linen. They are designed with a special dissolving strip that 
dissolves when in contact with water.
We have good stock levels of these available to purchase.
New product! Orange heavy duty clinical waste sacks for safe infectious waste disposal.
Using orange clinical waste sacks to dispose of your infectious waste ensures that you and your care facility complies with current best practice infection prevention and waste regulations. 
Customers have been requesting best practice advice and product solutions for the safe disposal of infectious waste so we have added this to our infection prevention range.
Effective Surface Decontamination
The Coronavirus is not currently available for commercial laboratories to test against so 
although we cannot give a definitive contact time and dilution rate, our surface disinfection product Selgiene Ultra Virucidal Cleaner has been assessed for virucidal activity following test methods such as BS EN 14476 and BS EN 14675. Results show they are effective against a range of viruses such as the H1N1 influenza virus, Norovirus, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV and the Ebola virus.
We would therefore recommend using the below product for general disinfection in the infection prevention and control for the 2019-nCoV on frequently touched surfaces including hand rails, door handles, light switches etc.
Product Concentration Contact time
Selgiene Ultra (5 litres) 1:10 5 minutes
Selgiene Ultra RTU Neat 5 minutes
We have good stock levels of Selgiene Ultra available now to order.
Where specific cases are suspected or identified we would recommend an additional step of applying 1000ppm bleach (after pre-cleaning with Selgiene). We advise the use of Selgiene for pre-cleaning to minimise the risk that the cleaning cloths become a source of cross contamination.
To achieve 1000ppm bleach see below:
Product
Preparation:
1 tablet in 1L water
Concentration:
1000ppm
Contact time:
15 minutes
Please note, all of the products listed are subject to availability, we advise you to order any stock you may need today to avoid disappointment.
If you would like any more help or information regarding how to protect your staff, residents and your home from Coronavirus please contact Hcsuk on 01773 713713 or email us at sales@hcsuk.co.uk
