SIXTEEN health unions have drawn up a nine-point blueprint with measures that they say must be in place for the NHS before the nation-wide lockdown is eased.

The demands include “fast, comprehensive and accessible testing” for Covid-19, and an “ongoing, ample supply of protective kit.”

The unions, representing more than a  million NHS staff, said that problems with the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) had “sapped staff confidence, causing widespread and unnecessary anxiety.”