During the first wave of Covid, national supply issues with PPE left Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust with just one box of isolation gowns remaining. In partnership with NHFM, they created a PPE manufacturing service, creating gowns, scrubs and theatre hoods, amongst other products, so healthcare workers were protected from Covid.
Links were made with some local manufacturing organisations who had furloughed staff and were keen to support us. With these organisations we were able to set up an initial small supply to get stock back into the system. A consultant was appointed, premises were located, machinery was bought, materials were sourced and staff were recruited. On 6 May 2020 the factory opened and production of gowns began.
By June our factory was creating enough gowns for the Trust, however it became apparent that there was still not enough supply in the system nationally. We moved to much larger premises and our consultant reached out to her network across the country and recruited 30 factories to work for us. By October 2020 we had produced 2.2 million gowns supplying NHS Trusts across the country.
Rigorous testing was necessary to ensure that our gowns meet HSE quality standards. We undertook Hydrostatic Pressure Testing by accredited test houses and the results were approved by the HSE. We are now compliant with BS13795 giving us fully fluid repellent isolation gowns.
The gown design has been tweaked over time. Feedback from user-groups involving doctors, nurses, consultants and surgeons has led to changes to the basic shape, sleeve length, type of cuff and body length to ensure that our gowns are fit for purpose, and of superior quality to the ones previously sourced.
Our gowns are being used to protect healthcare workers across the country from Covid 19. Overcoming the national supply issue and having this protection means that there is less risk of healthcare workers contracting Covid, and passing it on to the patients that they care for, potentially reducing the number of Covid related deaths.
We have created a product that is bespoke to healthcare workers’ needs that is Made in Britain, by the NHS for the NHS, instead of the off-the-shelf offering that was previously sourced, often from abroad.
We are now able to offer our gowns, and the other products we manufacture, to organisations outwith the NHS such as private healthcare providers and care homes, and even abroad. Our products have received excellent feedback from users and the money that is generated is re-invested into the NHS to benefit patient care instead of being sent elsewhere.
We have created employment opportunities in the local community and are helping to bring textile manufacturing back to the North East, preserving its heritage. The people that we recruited who had previously left the industry when the factories closed down have welcomed the opportunity to use their skills again, and more so by using them to help the NHS. We also try to use local suppliers wherever possible which is further contributing to the local economy in a difficult time, whilst helping with sustainability factors.
