Deliveries that mean heroes can keep on caring
Thanks to Mail readers, staff have the equipment they need to work
THEIR selfless dedication means Scotland’s veterans can live independent lives for longer.
Now staff at Erskine Care Home can continue their work thanks to a special delivery of Mail Force face masks.
The charity, created by the Mail and its partners, handed over 2,000 vital face coverings to be worn by carers and cleaners.
Covid-19 hygiene rules state that personal protective equipment (PPE) worn by carers must be changed every time they more on to a different resident.
This means that staff at the charity go through a staggering 1,000 disposable masks every day in the homes, which can accommodate up to 339 veterans at four sites around Scotland.
Dougie Beattie, the organisation’s head of facilities and support services, was present to take the delivery at the home’s Renfrewshire headquarters in the shadow of its namesake bridge yesterday.
He said: ‘This PPE delivery means staff can continue to deliver the service to the residents.
‘We have had lots of support from people and organisations giving us PPE, but we go through 1,000 masks a day so it’s incredible to receive a donation like this.’
Mr Beattie added: ‘I can’t speak highly enough of the staff, for who, looking after the residents is a vocation. They are stayOn
‘Incredible to get a donation like this’
ing on after hours and volunteering to do extra shifts.
‘These are trying times, a lot of them have young families and yet that’s not putting them off turning up for work.’
The new face masks, delivered from the Mail Force warehouse in the Midlands, will be worn by Erskine’s 800 staff across all its homes along with aprons, gloves and, occasionally, safety goggles.
Quality improvement assistant Pamela Smith, 34, who has worked for Erskine for nine years, was the first staff member to get her hands on the new safety gear.
She said: ‘Wearing a mask isn’t something you get used to but having PPE means we can carry on caring for the residents of the home and that’s all that matters.’
The delivery is the second made to the charity by the Mail Force fund. VE-Day, earlier this month, hundreds of coverall suits which allow the staff to safely clean the rooms of residents to protect them from the spread of coronavirus were delivered.
Erskine has been badly affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, with 24 residents with the virus dying at three of its four homes in the early weeks of the pandemic.
Resident James Gillies, 87, a former Army gunner and retired bricklayer, moved to the home from Glasgow’s West End 17 months ago following the death of his wife.
He congratulated Mail Force after volunteering to help staff take delivery of safety gear.
He added: ‘Well done to the charity for bringing these face masks.
‘This is a wonderful place to live. I live independently for the most part, I do all my own cooking and get shopping delivered but the staff are so helpful.
‘I have missed going out as we’ve been in lockdown so I’m looking forward to being able to go for a walk in the park and woods around the home.’
So far, the Mail Force fund has raised more than £8.6million thanks to the generous donations of Daily Mail readers and other contributors. Readers’ generosity has helped deliver PPE to homes and hospitals around the UK.
Yesterday, a Mail Force van pulled up outside Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford where staff were on hand to welcome a delivery of 17,500 Type IIR surgical masks and 5,000 medical aprons.
Though the hospital has no current shortages of PPE itself, it has been acting as a hub for local medical and care organisations which do. ‘People are going to be needing this equipment for many months to come, so thanks to everyone who donated,’ said senior nurse Jake Hellier, 38.
‘This hospital is like one big family with everyone looking after each other. And we’ve been incredibly touched by the public’s generosity.’
Mr Hellier was not only pleased to see boxes of surgical face masks but was particularly impressed by
the calibre of the Mail Force aprons. As the man in charge of training staff on the use of PPe in the battle against Covid-19, he has seen many different examples of them.
‘I have always felt entirely safe in all our PPe but it does mean that I have now become something of an expert on aprons,’ he joked, ‘and these ones are really good quality.’
The charity is now procuring half a million aprons every week from a new production line in Lancashire.
Staff on their break came out to form a welcoming committee, among them
Sue herson, the matron in charge of critical care for the past six years.
‘We’ve never known anything like this crisis of course but it has produced the most amazing teamwork,’ she said.
Royal Surrey’s chief executive, Louise Stead, said: ‘The system has worked well but there are always times when you might be down to a couple of days left of some equipment so we have a mutual aid scheme.’
hospitals across the county help each other out, and also distribute PPe to smaller clinics and care homes in need.