The John Lewis Partnership is installing a wellbeing area for medical staff and volunteers this week at the Nightingale NHS Hospital, London, which the company has designed. Sharon White, partner and chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, confirmed: “We will do more over the coming weeks.”
The retailer said that the space will be the only area, within the main part of the hospital, that is specifically designed for all staff to have a place of sanctuary. Composer Alejandro Bonatto has created a playlist to help staff unwind.
The John Lewis Partnership has also partnered with the British Medical Association (BMA) to distribute care packages for frontline NHS workers at the busiest hospitals across the UK. From today, (April 9), the retailer will start making 400 deliveries of essential items, a combination of 60,000 much-needed non-clinical essentials including deodorant, shaving foam, hand cream, antibac hand gel and lip balm, as well as snack food, tea, coffee and socks. Nightingale London, and the main London NHS Trusts, will be the first to receive the care packages. Over the next few weeks, the boxes will be delivered to acute hospital trusts in the UK to safely distribute to high intensity clinical areas such as critical care and intensive care units.
“We are so grateful to the John Lewis Partnership for their continued commitment to taking care of NHS staff,” commented Matthew Trainer, deputy ceo at NHS Nightingale London. “The care packages, designed in collaboration with the BMA, will be a welcome gesture of support for staff and the wellbeing space will allow much-needed time out during their shifts. This is a fantastic example of people and companies coming together to help NHS staff as they respond to the greatest public health challenge in over a century.”
Added Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA’s chair of council: “When so many healthcare staff are putting in hour after hour to look after so many very sick patients, a deed such as this, to show how much they are appreciated, can make all the difference, supplying healthcare staff with essentials they may otherwise have difficulty getting hold of, because of the hours they are working. It is truly welcome and we are very grateful.”
In addition, the John Lewis Partnership is also accommodating on-call NHS key workers on its Leckford Estate in Hampshire, hosting key medical staff who need to be near the hospital in lodges which are usually used as holiday homes for Partners.
Other initiatives already introduced by John Lewis and Waitrose include gifting essential food items, hot meals, pillows and phone chargers to local hospitals. The retailer will also be giving away 50,000 boxes of Easter confectionery to NHS workers.
Top: The John Lewis Partnership is delivering nationwide care packages to front line NHS workers. Deliveries will start from today.
