MARIE Curie nurses are getting their essential PPE from their local convenience store, thanks to the generosity of SPAR South West and its distribution arm, Appleby Westward, which is based in Saltash.

Two hundred and fifty Marie Curie Nurses across the South West, caring for patients with and without coronavirus, are using an average of 60,000 pieces of PPE a week, including face masks, aprons, gloves, visors, goggles and hand sanitiser.

Logistics

Yet issues with getting enough PPE has meant the charity was experiencing a ‘logistical nightmare’ in delivering the vast quantities of vital PPE to their frontline staff across the region.

Marie Curie have been receiving a weekly delivery from the West Midlands to the charity’s base in Tiverton, Devon. From Tiverton the charity was then having to spend considerable time and funds distributing it further to nurses across the region.

This was until SPAR came up with an innovative way to help. SPAR South West drivers are now collecting the PPE from Tiverton and delivering it to SPAR stores closest to each nurse’s home, for them to collect at a convenient time.

In an email thanking SPAR and Appleby Westward, Karen Burfitt, Marie Curie South West Regional Nursing Manager, said: ‘You have literally saved us hours of planning, co-ordinating and travelling. You have prevented nurses getting anxious as their shift loomed and they waited for the kit to arrive.

‘You have prevented nurses having to stay up, rather than getting some much-needed rest before a shift, for the husband of their senior nurse to drop off the PPE. You have helped prevent us having to cancel the care of a dying person, prevented us having to make a phone call to an exhausted wife to say sorry no one is coming tonight because we couldn’t get the right PPE, to the right nurse. You have saved me and my team from additional stress and worry we really could do without.’

Karen continued: ‘I cannot thank SPAR enough. I cannot stress enough that this has been a massive part of our jobs and lives for many weeks. They have enabled us to catch our breaths – albeit briefly!’

Del Phillips, Appleby Westward Logistics Director, said: ‘As part of every community we serve, Appleby Westward and our SPAR retailers are proud to support Marie Curie, providing a logistics solution to ensure vital PPE reaches their nurses working in those communities during these difficult times.’