Sue Ryder have issued an urgent plea to kit out its doctors and nurses with an additional and continuous supply of personal protective equipment.

The national palliative car charity, who operate the Leckhampton Court Hospice in Gloucestershire say they need the equipment to protect its staff - and crucially ease the burden on the NHS.

Sue Ryder have more than 1,000 doctors and nurses providing expert palliative care to people at the end of life - care that would otherwise have to be given in hospitals.

Heidi Travis, Chief Executive at Sue Ryder, said: "For Sue Ryder's doctors and nurses, access to significant amounts of additional Personal Protective Equipment is now critical.

"As a result of COVID-19 we are expecting an increase in people needing end-of-life care in the coming weeks and months.

"The NHS is asking Sue Ryder to plan to support more patients and yet our medical teams are already providing palliative care for patients with Coronavirus symptoms with only enough Personal Protective Equipment for a matter of days.

"This means that Sue Ryder will soon be unable to protect our doctors and nurses from contracting the virus.

"We will not put our staff at risk and so this will lead to staff shortages at a time when they are needed more than ever before.

"If we are to protect our staff against the spread of COVID-19 and continue to care for patients who are dying, in turn supporting the NHS, an immediate solution is needed.

"With a depleted workforce, there will not be enough staff to run the charity's hospices and Hospice at Home services across England.

"This will lead to patients being transferred to hospitals which will put additional strain on the NHS.

"We are willing participants in the Coronavirus effort. We want to use our skills, expertise and experience to help in the months ahead, but this will simply not be possible if we cannot access the equipment needed to protect our staff."