Peterborough NHS trust appeals for scrubs for frontline staff

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is appealing to local groups and organisations to help provide frontline staff with sets of scrubs.
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The trust provides mental health services for children and adults as well as well as physical healthcare in the community for older people and those with long-term health conditions.

While physical healthcare staff – the likes of community and district nurses – have their distinctive nurses uniforms, mental health staff on wards at the trust’s hospitals at the Cavell Centre in Peterborough and at Fulbourn Hospital in Cambridge usually wear their own clothes to work.

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Other groups of staff who work closely with patients such as pharmacists also do not wear a uniform.

An appeal for scrubs has been released by CPFTAn appeal for scrubs has been released by CPFT
An appeal for scrubs has been released by CPFT

During the response to the coronavirus pandemic the trust has taken the decision that all patient-facing staff, who do not normally wear a uniform, should be dressed in scrubs to help reduce any possible chance of infection.

Thousands of sets have been ordered, however, the trust is also appealing for any community groups who are making scrubs to get in touch.

Rachel Gomm, director of nursing, said: “We know there are a number of community groups in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough who are making scrubs and we have already been in contact with some of them, but we’re also aware that there are probably a number of other groups who are also making them and we’d love to hear from them.

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“Our frontline NHS staff are doing an incredible job caring for people and keeping them safe and scrubs will be a massive contribution to hygiene and safety during this time.

“We have ordered scrubs and some have already been delivered. Every community and mental health trust like ours is in the same position at the moment so we’re looking for an extra 2,000 sets from any groups in the community that can help.”

Any community groups who can supply scrubs to CPFT staff is asked to email [email protected]. They are asked to put ‘Scrubs’ in the email message.

Meanwhile, frontline staff at Peterborough city, Hinchingbrooke and Stamford and Rutland hospitals received their first delivery of scrubs from the For The Love Of Scrubs campaign earlier this month.

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An army of volunteers are sewing scrubs for NHS frontline staff as part of a national campaign which was launched on Facebook.

The campaign started when a nurse working at Pilgrim Hospital in Lincolnshire raised awareness of a national shortage of scrubs. The operation sees local volunteers donating their time and resources to create scrubs, over the shoulder scrub bags, laundry bags and headbands for local NHS staff using their sewing machines at home.

Jo Bennis, chief nurse at the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the three hospitals, said: “As a trust we have been overwhelmed with the amount of kindness that has come from the community. We’re grateful to those who have donated their time and effort in supporting both our hospitals and staff.

“It means a lot to our staff knowing that they have all this support from our local community which keeps them going while they care for our patients and each other in such unprecedented times.”

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If you are a seamstress with a skill set that could help, you can visit the Facebook page ‘Hinchingbrooke And Peterborough For the love of scrubs,’ or ‘For The Love Of Scrubs – Our NHS Needs You’ to register your interest.