St Mary’s Hospice is working hard to deliver its services with patients staying on the Inpatient Unit and those being cared for at their homes in the community. Effective Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) is vital to help to protect patients, their families and St Mary’s nurses, doctors and health care assistants providing frontline care from coronavirus.
Safety advisors from BAE Systems Submarines in Barrow were happy to help staff from St Mary’s Hospice in Ulverston adjust to new equipment to protect them from coronavirus. Respirators they had needed to be correctly fitted and maintained, so the hospice contacted BAE Systems for assistance. Similar equipment is used by workers painting and welding, so the shipyard was able to provide advice on correct procedures.
Phil Myerscough, BAE Systems Submarines Head of SHE (Specialist Services, Assurance and Governance), said: “Face Fit Testing is a requirement to ensure that Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE) issued to an individual is suitable and capable of providing them with appropriate protection.
“At BAE Systems Submarines, we often use similar equipment to protect our employees from manufacturing processes involving dusts and chemicals.
“Given that we have the capability to carry out Face Fit Testing on site, we were delighted to be able to support a request from St Mary’s Hospice to provide their staff with Face Fit Testing at their own location and also support them with the continued supply of respirators through Alpha Solway, who are the manufacturers of the respirators. This will help their staff to remain protected from coronavirus so that they can continue to provide their essential services to the community.”
Val Stangoe, St Mary’s Chief Exec: “This is another brilliant example of how our community and business community is working together. BAE Systems’ expertise in this area has been so useful for our care team to maintain protection. At this difficult time our services – being there for patients and their families – are more crucial than ever. Thank you to BAE Systems for this excellent support enabling us to do this whilst prioritising safety.”
