7 minute read
Cover story: Covid pandemic response
UNIVERSITY RISES TO COVID-19 CHALLENGES
As a university community, we are proud of our dedicated health graduates who answered the call to action and headed to the frontline when COVID-19 struck. Staff across multiple departments also played their part in getting much-needed supplies to those who needed it most. WLV Life pays tribute to all their efforts.
2020 has been an exceptionally difficult year – across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in hundreds of thousands of people losing their lives, while millions more have suffered from the disease. But out of this appalling crisis has come heartening stories of individuals, businesses, charities and organisations rallying to help healthcare professionals and vulnerable people in our society – and the University is no exception. Staff members across our campuses have done superlative work to help, while our Nursing and Paramedic Science students also stepped up.
More than 400 of our third year Nursing and Midwifery students entered the NHS to help deliver frontline care, while 84 Paramedic Science students applied to the West Midlands Ambulance Service to enter active duty as soon as they could. Seven postgraduate Pharmacy students also went to work in pharmacies, GP clinics, hospital and in pharmacy clinical homecare.
Several of our departments came forward to aid our local community, manufacturing vital personal protection equipment (PPE) to keep health professionals safe, thanks to a fundraising effort, launched by the Alumni and Development team. As WLV Life went to press, more than £9,000 had been raised from more than 160 people, the proceeds of which went towards efforts across the University. Staff at the School of Engineering used 3D printers to make much-needed face shields for nurses, paramedics, care homes and other frontline careworkers across the region.
Using Prusa 3D printing machines from a variety of sources, including Telford Campus where they are used by students for engineering projects, staff perfected a fast and streamlined manufacturing process for RC3 headbands using a polymer called Polyethylene terephthalate glycol modified (PETG).
As a part of the social distancing policy, some staff also printed headbands from home, using University equipment or personal 3D printers.
When the headbands were printed, a transparent plastic visor, cut to shape using the School of Engineering’s Zund cutting table, was added to the front, creating a protective barrier that shields the whole face.
So far, about 2,000 visors have been produced and distributed across the West Midlands, with more being produced each day.
Dr Matthew Palframan and Dr Mark Hewitt from the School of Pharmacy, and Dr Aman Dhir of the School of Engineering’s Chemical Engineering department produced 140 litres of sanitiser that was given to local frontline care facilities.
Natalia Hill, Business and Project Development Manager, who works in the University’s Faculty of Education, Health and Wellbeing, co-ordinated the supply and delivery of PPE to NHS Trust frontline staff as well as caregivers and volunteers working in the community.
She has delivered gloves, clinical waste bags, 3D-printed visors, protective glasses, and disposable aprons to a hospice, care homes, City of Wolverhampton Council and Dudley Council, while Midland Partnership Foundation Trust collected 100 litres of sanitiser. Natalia also sent £8,000 worth of thermometers to New Cross Hospital.
Even the Fashion and Textiles Department at the School of Art has played its part. Fiona Griffiths, a Technical Demonstrator and specialist in pattern cutting and garment manufacture, spent her Easter break making 16 sets of scrubs for local NHS Trust hospitals in Staffordshire.
She teamed up with Julie Pearce, a Wolverhampton School of Art graduate, to make the garments for the ‘Scrubs for Stoke’ initiative, which was initially organised by nursing staff and former nursing staff working for University Hospitals North Midlands and Royal Stoke and County Hospitals.
Racing driver turns PPE delivery driver
The University’s racing team was on hiatus when live sport was cancelled, but our professional racing driver, Shane Kelly, swapped the Dallara F308 racing car for a transit van to help deliver PPE to care workers as part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Working with the Schools of Engineering and Pharmacy, which manufactured face shields and sanitiser to help protect frontline workers who were helping the most vulnerable, Shane swapped his racing gear for PPE.
Dr Syed Hasan, Head of the School of Engineering, said: “We have enlisted Kelly, who normally would be driving for the University’s student team at racing circuits around the country, to use his skills on the roads of the West Midlands – but always keeping to the speed limit, of course!
“The shortage of PPE has been deeply felt in care homes, and it’s been humbling for everyone involved to take protective equipment out to key workers in the fight against the pandemic.”
Mary Dzimwasha, manager at The Villa Care Home in Madeley, Telford, said: “We really appreciate the face shields given to us by the University. It’s been so, so important to have supplies like these to protect both the vulnerable adults we work with and the staff that care for them.”
Donations were also gratefully received at the Birkdale Residential Home. “All the support you have offered through the supply of PPE has been greatly appreciated. Keep up the good work of helping out the NHS, care homes and all those you are helping. It doesn’t go unnoticed.”
Baldev Danny Singh, Master of Pharmacy (MPharm) graduate, described his life on the frontline as a pharmacist during the COVID-19 crisis. After graduating, Danny joined Boots UK Telford and has gone on to become a Boots Advanced Practitioner.
“It is important our customers know that we are here for them; we are contactable over the phone, and for anything urgent or essential as long as we maintain a two- metre distance, we are still able to give customers general advice for minor ailments. We need to keep our eye on the holistic picture and not get completely side-tracked by COVID-19.
“It is my mission to be part of this critical response to help people to stay well and feel better. It’s a privilege and an honour for me to serve my local communities.
“I’m doing a Postgraduate Independent Prescribing Course at the moment and believe that this is the future of pharmacy – to enable us to prescribe in our areas of competency, like having a GP in your local pharmacy. This is where I’m aiming to be and this will make healthcare more accessible to our communities.
“Being a pharmacist is a really rewarding career. The work placement opportunities offered to me whilst studying really helped me prepare for the world of work, taking me into primary and secondary care, including community pharmacies, GP surgeries, care-homes and hospitals. Now, more than ever, my team and I feel that we are making a real positive contribution in our community in the fight against coronavirus and other illnesses.”
Fundraising in memory of Fine Art graduate
The widow one of our Fine Art graduates has raised hundreds of pounds for our COVID-19 fundraising appeal in her memory.
Lesley Goodwin was diagnosed with myeloma and died at the age of 58 in June 2017, just months before her graduation ceremony.
As the pandemic crisis unfolded, Andy Goodwin posted daily music videos on his social media channels, most of them with adapted lyrics to reflect the current climate.
As the number of views increased, so did the demand from family and friends and they decided to recognise Andy’s hard work by donating to the University’s COVID-19 appeal, which is manufacturing PPE for front line care-workers, as they watched his performances.
He said: “As I posted my 50th video, a friend suggested we try to raise money for charity and when I saw the appeal I knew it would have been close to Lesley’s heart.
“Lesley and I had some very memorable times while she was at the University and I am still in touch with some of her fellow students.
“It is important at times such as these that we stay positive and focused on the good times and supporting others.”
By June, Lesley’s friends and family had donated more than £1,525 to the appeal, which funded more than 1,000 face shields.
This isn’t the first time that Andy has supported the University. In April 2018, he worked with Dr Christian Mieves from the Wolverhampton School of Art to stage an exhibition of Lesley’s work in the Faculty of Art gallery space.
Lesley studied Fine Art from 2013 until her illness meant she had to curtail her studies in spring 2017. She died in June of that year and Andy collected her award in September in her honour.
