The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, tried out the sustainable PPE solutions by NHS owned company, NTH Solutions, during a visit to University Hospital of North Tees. Mr Hancock’s visit saw him meet with staff at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, from the endoscopy department to A&E, in addition to meeting with NTH Solutions’ sterile services team.
As well as providing services to its Trust, NTH Solutions, a subsidiary of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, provides services to support the local community and other healthcare organisations. These services have proven crucial to many organisations during the Covid-19 pandemic, as the company provides infection control solutions in line with NHS standards, including the provision of reusable sterile gowns and aprons.
Mr Hancock was keen to try out NTH Solutions’ reusable gowns during his visit, which are an important development in infection control due to the increasing concerns regarding the environmental impact of single-use PPE, as well as issues surrounding PPE shortages.
NTH Solutions has partnered with Leeds-based Herida Healthcare to manufacture the gowns and aprons, which can be reused 50 times and are made from fully recyclable materials, reducing the amount of waste by 98% when compared with single use PPE.
The gowns are also manufactured to the highest standards, producing a CE marked, Class 1 medical device developed in association with NHS front line staff, with the garments being sterilised by NTH Solutions’ sterile services department prior to distribution.
Also, as NTH Solutions is an NHS owned company, the income generated by the sustainable PPE solutions is reinvested back into the NHS to improve frontline patient care and services.
Mike Worden, Managing Director at NTH Solutions, said:
“The team at NTH Solutions was delighted to welcome Matt Hancock to learn more about our sustainable solutions to PPE, which is crucial to reducing the amount of waste from PPE ending up in landfill, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
“We are looking forward to continuing to strengthen our partnership with Herida as we provide infection control solutions to our Trust and the local community, all while driving reinvestment into NHS frontline patient care and services.”
