Bags of help for Ilfracombe’s community nurses

Community nurses in and around Ilfracombe have been equipped with innovative new medical bags that are literally easing the load on frontline NHS staff.

Funded by a donation of over £11,000 from the town’s League of Friends of Tyrrell Hospital, the 40 bags are helping nurses caring for patients at home in Ilfracombe, Berrynarbor, Combe Martin, Lynton, Braunton, Woolacombe, Georgeham and Croyde.

Each bag contains six coloured pouches where nurses can store the kit for specific tasks, such as wound care, taking blood samples or blood glucose monitoring. “The bags are amazing and the nurses definitely like them,” says Charlaine Cooper, Community Hospital & Hub Manager at Tyrrell Hospital.

“The bag fits neatly into the boot of a car, so there is nothing rolling around in the back, and the nurse can just take out the pouch they need for a particular patient - rather than having to lug the whole bag around, or dig about in the boot when it’s dark, raining, and maybe they’ve had to park up on the kerb.

“Our nurses are working so hard the whole time that anything that’s lighter to carry, that saves their backs and makes them more comfortable when they’re working is a really big thing for them.”

Leanne Pridmore, Community Nurse Team Manager at the Tyrrell Hospital, echoed that view, adding: "It just makes my working day so much easier. I know I have got everything I need, when I need it."

Designed with the help of community nurses in the Northern Services team at Royal Devon University Healthcare Foundation Trust, the bags are made by Gloucestershire-based CorrMed and were shortlisted for the national Primary and Community Care Innovation of the Year award at the Health Service Journal Awards.

“We are extremely lucky to have the League of Friends of the Tyrrell Hospital to help provide these bags -- and a lot more equipment over the years,” says Cooper. “Not all hospitals have Leagues, and ours makes an enormous difference. By helping nurses to do their jobs, it really is helping to make local people better.”

The League’s donations all come from the sales of clothes, books and other items at its charity shop in Church Street, Ilfracombe. “By shopping with us, people are supporting healthcare for local people,” says Gloria Satchwell, chair of the League and the shop’s manager. “And donations and volunteers are always welcome!”