NURSES are facing a potentially deadly “postcode lottery” in personal protective equipment (PPE) thanks to government indecision, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warns today.

The union says that updated government guidance on infection prevention issued on Thursday night fails to address concerns on PPE thrown up by new highly infectious variants of Covid-19 and will worsen variation between hospitals.

The union has told the government and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) that all NHS staff should be issued with higher-grade masks, as used routinely in intensive-care units, pending urgent review of the guidance.