New nightwear covers patients’ modesty

23rd Aug 2012

New nightwear which helps to enhance the privacy and dignity of patients is proving a hit at Sandwell Hospital, City and Rowley Regis Hospitals.

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust has invested £50,000 in buying 10,000 new nighties and pyjamas and installing a new laundry to be able wash them.

The new nightwear has been specially designed, and unlike the old nightwear, includes extra pieces of material in the back of the nightie and front of the pyjamas to provide better coverage.

They also have slits in them to allow nurses to thread tubes and monitoring equipment through and have buttons rather than ties which are also more secure.

Patient Mursal Mohammed, who wore the pyjamas during his two week stay on Lyndon 2 at Sandwell General Hospital following a life-saving stomach operation, praised the comfort and design of the garments.

“When you are in hospital you are not always fully ‘with it’ but you still have feelings and need your own confidentiality, so it is good to know the nightwear is covering you properly,” he said.

The laundry, in the basement of Sandwell Hospital, can also launder window and screen curtains, allowing an eight-hour turn around, rather than a week or more if the curtains are processed through an off-site industrial laundry.

Steve Clarke, Deputy Director of Facilities at SWBH, said: “The driving force behind this was to enhance patients’ privacy and dignity whilst also ensuring the nightwear is comfortable.

“It will also vastly improve the turnaround time for the processing of the curtains which is especially important when a ward is deep cleaned after an infection, as the curtains need to be in place for it to re-open as soon as possible.”

The new nightwear is intended for use when patients come into hospital in an emergency or do not have their own to wear.

Picture caption: Patient Mursal Mohammed; Lyndon 2 Staff Nurse Jodie Smith; Steve Clarke, Deputy Director of Facilities at Sandwell General Hospital.

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