Inmates at Nottinghamshire prison to make PPE for health workers

Prisoners in Nottinghamshire are reportedly going to help create protective equipment for health workers tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

Robert Buckland, the government's justice secretary, has told theDaily Telegraph plans are being drawn up for eight prisons to takepart in the production drive - including HMP Whatton.

He says inmates at the jails will this week start making scrubs andface visors as a way of saving the NHS money in light of surgingprices for PPE.

Their efforts will support those of the John Lewis department storechain which has brought a group of workers back from furlough to makeclinical gowns as the race for PPE continues amid worldwide shortages.

The category B and C prisons involved in the effort include Swansea,Channings Wood in Devon, Wakefield, Highpoint in Suffolk, Whatton inNottinghamshire and New Hall in West Yorkshire, which holds women andyoung offenders.

The prisons will make scrubs for around £5 a set, compared with their£15 price tag on the open market.

An initial order has been made for the manufacture of 5,000 scrub topsand 5,000 laundry bags for the scrubs.