Tag: nurses

Greens call for government to cover nursing fees

The Scottish Greens have called on the Scottish Government to demonstrate its appreciation for Scotland’s nurses by covering their 2020 professional registration fees.

Nurses and midwives in Scotland are required to pay an annual registration fee of £120 to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, but Scottish Greens Parliamentary Co-Leader Alison Johnstone MSP has called on the First Minister to cover that cost this year as a small token of appreciation for the role these professionals are playing in the fight against coronavirus.

Alison Johnstone MSP said: “All across the country nurses and midwives have gone above and beyond during this crisis. From supporting young families, to comforting dying patients whose loved ones cannot be with them, these dedicated professionals play an essential role in the fight against coronavirus.

“It becomes more evident every day how crucial frontline health and care staff are to our communities, and there are rightly calls for a review of how we remunerate all our health and care workers who have put themselves at risk to protect us.

“One modest measure the Scottish Government could take immediately to show a small token of appreciation to our nurses and midwives is to cover their professional registration fees.

“Covering the £120 fee payable by nurses and midwives to the Nursing and Midwifery Council for 2020 would be a small gesture, but one that I’m sure would be most welcomed.

“Quite rightly those retired professionals who have been called back to support our NHS during this crisis have not been charged registration fees, and it would be fitting if this consideration was shown across the board.”

Retailer donates 5,000 compression socks to help frontline nurses

A Glasgow online travel retailer whose sales have dropped 95 per cent in the past two weeks has donated 5,000 pairs of compression socks to help Scots nurses combat Covid-19.

Worth £125,000, the colourful knee-length socks will help 5,000 acute nurses in six hospitals across Scotland fight fatigue in the coming weeks.

And the firm has pledged to give away 5,000 more in the next seven days to nurses in London, bringing the total to 10,000 (£250,000).

Trtl (pronounced ‘turtle’) has donated the compression socks to acute nurses at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, Royal Alexandra Hospital (Paisley) and Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Govan. Each hospital has received 1,000.

In addition, nurses at Edinburgh Royal will take 1,000 while Trtl has given 500 to nurses at Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital and 500 to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

The award-winning company, which employs 30 people in Glasgow, had stockpiled thousands of the socks in advance of its peak summer season.

But with sales stalling due to the Covid-19 pandemic and little prospect of travel bans being rescinded any time soon, CEO Michael Corrigan decided to use them to support frontline nurses in his home city, across Scotland and in worst-hit London instead.

He explained: “Although the compression socks have been most popular with airline travellers, at the start of this year we ran a small campaign with nurses around the world and they were really happy with them.

“Over the past few days, I’ve been thinking about how we can contribute in what is the biggest crisis many of us will face in our lifetimes.

“When something like this happens it very rapidly puts things into perspective.

“Nurses across the UK will be tested as never before in the coming weeks and if we can do something to help make the time they spend on their feet more comfortable, we must.

“I couldn’t just see these socks sitting in a warehouse when they could be helping people saving lives. That’s what’s important, and nurses need all the help they can get just now.”

John Stuart is the chief nurse at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. He said: “We are under no illusions about what we are going to face in the weeks to come.

“Our nurses work incredibly hard and can spend hours and hours on the move during every shift.

“With these compression socks we can help our staff alleviate some of the discomfort and aches associated with being on your feet for long periods of time and help them better face the challenges that are coming our way with Covid-19.

“Any gesture like this can help boost morale and hopefully the colourful designs will help brighten the days of our nursing staff.”

A 2015 study found that the average NHS worker walks 3.6 miles a day with some recording up to 11 miles.

Nurses regularly work 12-hour shifts and wearing compression socks reduces leg soreness, swollen ankles and varicose veins.

Established in 2013, Trtl is majority-owned-and-run by founder Michael Corrigan (32), who was born on Glasgow’s south side.

Best known for its Trtl Travel Pillow, which has sold 1.6M worldwide, Trtl sells a range of travel items from compression socks to packing pods. Most of its products are bought online through trtltravel.com and retailers such as Amazon.

The company won Small Exporter of the Year at the Scottish Export Awards in 2018.

Michael added: “This may be the biggest challenge we will ever face as a generation and how we react as individuals and collectively could define us in the years to come.”