NHS staff urged to use medical gloves only if needed to cut waste

A health board's call for staff to reduce the number of disposable gloves they use must not compromise safety, a union has warned.

NHS Grampian said its "Gloves Off" campaign aimed to cut down on unnecessary waste by reminding staff to carefully consider whether gloves are required when delivering care.

The board said the message was that gloves were not vital unless dealing with blood, bodily fluids or hazardous chemicals.

The health union Unison said that while it welcomed the measure in principle it should not be only “financially driven”, and access to the protective equipment must not be restricted.

Staff across NHS Grampian used more than 34 million disposable gloves during the last financial year.

These cost more than £1.3m to buy, with in excess of a further estimated £86,000 in disposal costs.

The health board warned earlier this month it needed to reduce spending to tackle an "extremely challenging" financial position.

NHS Grampian said the gloves off drive was being introduced to "improve patient care and reduce unnecessary waste" by reminding staff to carefully consider when gloves are required.

NHS Grampian Board chairwoman Alison Evison spoke in support of the initiative at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

“We know the inappropriate use of disposable gloves is detrimental to both patient care and the environment," she said.

"Gloves are no substitute for handwashing and sometimes when we wear gloves we forget to wash in between, or touch lots of different surfaces with them. This increases the risk of spreading germs.

“The message is simple: ‘Gloves Off’ unless you’re dealing with blood, bodily fluids or hazardous chemicals."

She added: "We need the public to be supportive of staff too.”

Martin McKay, of the Grampian branch of the Unison union, told BBC Scotland News: “If financial controls are put in place that restrict access to the required protective equipment then, obviously for us, that has a direct impact on staff, on our members.

“And it can have an impact on the ability to carry out services to the best of their ability.

“If you don’t have the tools for the job then you can’t carry out the job properly."

He added: “It has to be a fully open, transparent process. Otherwise, if it’s just financially-driven, then we would have some issues with that.”