County dentist group's efforts to find facemasks for those in need during the coronavirus crisis

Synergy Dental’s clinical director and founder Dr Zuber Bagasi scoured the country to buy 5,000 of the FFP2 masks.

They are not the top hospital-grade but suitable for other use. Now, the group – which includes a clinic in Central Drive, South Shore and others in Preston, Ormskirk and across Lancashire – is offering the masks free to diagnosed local patients and community members.

For more details on the free facemasks go to Synergy’s website.

Dr Bagasi has also been busy locating FFP3 facemasks that are suitable for hospital use to donate to local venues including Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

He said: “Masks are essential for frontline hospital staff and the NHS is working tirelessly to supply them. However, as the supplies are already depleted, many healthcare workers are faced with helping patients while not being fully protected themselves.

“Now, healthcare staff have been losing their lives to this virus and it really upsets me to know that many could be saved if we had the correct Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). So I wanted to do something practical to help and hope this will.”

The Synergy Group, which has around 100 staff members and 80,000 patients, is currently closed due to the pandemic. Dr Bagasi said they were is trying to ensure that all jobs there were saved and the practices’ associate dentists have already given up their salaries to save other staff jobs.