Colleagues at the hospitals are keen to stress that these donated items are not to replace the use of surgical masks or FFP3 respirators within the Trust’s clinical and other appropriate settings, and the organisation will not be changing any of its current and existing policies on the use of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE).
The requested cloth face coverings are a supplementary addition to the organisation’s current offer, and will only be available as an extra measure of protection for those coming to hospital sites and gifted to these visitors to be taken home.
Simple, double-ply face masks can, in some instances, slow the spread of Covid-19 and help those people who are currently unknowingly living with the virus (asymptomatic) from transmitting it to others. The local hospitals are now appealing to the community to help them build a healthy supply of these homemade items, which will be given to those spending a short time on site and have no signs or symptoms of Covid-19.
Any items will be gifted to individuals which they will be able to use as their own (non-transferable or non-shareable) face covering.
David Purdue, Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals, said: “Last year, we received phenomenal support for our Traffic Light Hat Appeal, receiving more than 10,000 items. We are asking those same kind souls and others to help once again and put their needle skills to great use in creating cloth face coverings which will help us stop the spread of Covid-19.”
Relatively straight forward to make, the masks need to be double-ply, made of cotton and feature two elasticated sides so that they can fit snugly against the face. Detailed instructions, taken from Gov.uk can be found on the Trust’s website here: https://www.dbth.nhs.uk/news/clothfacecovering/
Once complete, you can send your contributions to DBTH Face Covers, Doncaster Royal Infirmary, Armthorpe Road, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN2 5LT. Alternatively, you can bring items to Main Stores within the Gate 5 entrance of the address above. From here they will be distributed across all hospital sites within the Trust.
David continues: “Since the outbreak of Covid-19, we have done all we can to ensure we keep both our patients and staff safe. We think this is just one more way in which we can support those coming to and from our hospitals. If you are good, intermediate or a beginner with a needle and thread, please get involved and help us stop the spread of this horrible virus.”