Coronavirus Kent: Medway nurse disgusted after finding used PPE dumped in garden
09:49, 22 April 2020
updated: 10:12, 22 April 2020
A nurse has spoken of his disgust after finding used PPE dumped in his garden.
Dad-of-two Simon Wicks, 43, said he was horrified when he came home from work at Medway Maritime Hospital last week to find a bag full of potentially contaminated equipment, including used gloves and masks, left on his bins.
"I had literally just come home from work in the morning," said Mr Wicks, of Grange Road, Gillingham. "There was a white bag out there – it was literally on top of our bins in the garden.
"Being a nurse I could see it was PPE – there were gloves, masks. I didn't want to delve too much into the bag because I wasn't sure what else was in there.
"I wasn't sure what to do with it. I was completely shocked."
After being unable to find anyone who would admit responsibility, he eventually resorted to putting his own gloves on and disposing of the bag in his own bin.
"It's still with the other bags now," he said. "It's not something to take lightly. I thought I would take it a bit further. It would be disgusting at any other time, but it's especially bad at the moment."
And he added: "As a nurse I understand the importance of safe disposal of used and potentially contaminated equipment and I find this disgusting as we have children and this is putting everyone at risk."
