14 June 2019
Following a blazing hot summer of 2018, the Trust that runs Shropshire’s two acute hospitals has ordered 250 bladed fans to keep its staff cool this summer, or maybe just to blow away the rain clouds.
Available through the Small Things Make a Big Difference Fund – which enables staff to ask for those small things that will have a big impact on themselves and their teams – the fans will provide comfort for patients and staff at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH), which runs the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) and the Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) in Telford.
Following a recent alert that portable bladeless air coolers used in clinical areas have been linked to cross infection in health and social care facilities, the new bladed fans will also make sure that SaTH is at the forefront of infection control in its hospitals.
Edwin Borman, Medical Director at SaTH, said: “It is particularly important for the safety of our patients and staff that we observe guidance on the use of fans in clinical areas. We are removing portable blameless fans that cannot be cleaned to hospital specifications.
“By making 250 bladed fans available, the “Small Things Make a Big Difference Fund” is helping to stop infection in our hospitals and creating a more pleasant atmosphere for patients, visitors and staff in our clinical areas.”
Originally a £10,000 fund set up as a result of staff feedback, The Small Things Make a Big Difference Fund saw additional investment last month when SaTH launched its staff lottery, from which half of all money raised through the lottery will be donated to the fund.
Victoria Maher, Workforce Director at SaTH, said: “It is very easy, in an organisation as large as ours, to get hung up on the major projects which we need to carry forward to improve things for patients and for staff. But often, something small like a new fridge, a fan or some new tables and chairs for a staff area, can make a real difference to people’s day-to-day lives.”