University donates vital equipment to Chesterfield Royal Hospital staff amid coronavirus crisis

Boxes of medical gloves, aprons, wipes, cleaning materials and alcohol gels – all of which is usually used for teaching student nurses at the university’s St Helena campus in Chesterfield – have been gratefully received by the Royal.

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Professor Kathryn Mitchell, vice chancellor of the University of Derby, said: “We are all too aware of the severely testing conditions that our NHS staff are dealing with as they help people diagnosed with Covid-19.

“As a civically-engaged university, we want to make as full as contribution as we can to help, and donating this equipment to a local hospital is just one of the ways in which we are doing so.

“Many of our nursing and allied healthcare students are already on the frontline, working in hospitals alongside experienced professionals to provide the support the health service needs at this hugely challenging time.

“With the university moving to delivering all higher education teaching online for the remainder of the academic year, it is only right that equipment that would have been for the use of students is supplied to hospital staff who need it to ensure that they themselves are properly protected against the risk of contracting and spreading coronavirus.”

A Chesterfield Royal Hospital spokesperson added: “The PPE will certainly be put to good use and we’d like to thank everyone at the university for their continued support and for helping our incredible frontline staff in this way.”

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