When A&E nurse Ashleigh Linsdell did a shout-out on Facebook for material so she could make scrubs for her colleagues, she never anticipated that it would become a national phenomenon. Volunteers from ‘For The Love of Scrubs’ have now made a staggering half a million sets of scrubs for healthcare staff.
Staff at Bourn Hall were the latest to receive the colourful scrubs. Regional Lead Nurse Laura Carter-Penman explains the urgent need: “To reduce the risk of infection, all of our nurses must now wear scrubs instead of their uniforms for appointments with patients and these were in short supply.”
Two sets of homemade scrubs for each nurse were personally delivered to Bourn Hall Cambridge by Ashleigh. She set up ‘For the Love of Scrubs’ after she identified a shortage in the supply of scrubs for frontline NHS staff during the Covid-19 epidemic. Ashleigh was quickly swamped with offers of help and before she knew it her Facebook group had 53,000 members and teams across the country started sewing.
Working with the NHS
Laura Carter-Penman was delighted to receive her very own set of handmade scrubs. “The scrubs made by Ashleigh’s wonderful army of volunteers are bright and cheerful and perfect for us to wear as we open our doors and give our patients a reassuring and very warm welcome.”
Bourn Hall provides NHS and self-funded treatment and works closely with the NHS. Dawn Course, Business Services Director, at Bourn Hall has been tasked with sourcing protective equipment.
She says: “The scrubs are just one of the many measures we have brought in to protect both our staff and patients. Although everything is in short supply we have received fantastic support from our colleagues in the NHS. Norfolk & Waveney CCG have been brilliant in helping us to source the higher grade PPE that is needed for general anaesthetic procedures.
“It’s been amazing the support we have received from our key suppliers, partners in care, the NHS and our patients and staff. It’s been a real team effort helping each other, supporting each other in acts of kindness and all working to the same goal of keeping everyone safe and ensuring our patients receive the best care possible.
“The wonderful contribution by ‘For the Love of Scrubs’ is an example of the community support and spirit that has come out of such a challenging situation.”
Extra care
Laura continues: “We have taken a number of steps to ensure we can offer treatments safely for all our patients and staff. These include screening everyone who visits our clinics for coronavirus, reducing the number of people in our clinics, following social distancing as much as possible, providing PPE to everyone who needs it, encouraging good hand hygiene and minimising face-to-face interactions.
“These measures, especially where they cover the face, have changed the way we work with patients so at least we will be colourful and that will help lift all our spirits.”
To find out more about ‘For the Love of Scrubs’ go to www.fortheloveofscrubs.org
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