KINGSPAN DONATES 60,000 MEDICAL PROTECTIVE SUITS
Kingspan has donated a shipment of 60,000 medical protective suits to the HSE to help support the Irish healthcare system in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The shipment of personal protective equipment (PPE) was capable of being sourced quickly through Kingspan’s existing supply chain partners.
The equipment – valued at €1 million – was delivered to the HSE’s logistics hub in Clondalkin for distribution around the country’s hospitals and healthcare facilities.
There has been a shortage of gowns and suits due to manufacturers struggling to source adequate supply of the special material that is used to make them, which needs to be of a certain density and quality to ensure it delivers the user adequate levels of protection. The full-length medical protective suits are CE-certified to confirm they meet EU safety standards.
This is Kingspan’s second donation to the Irish healthcare system during the pandemic, following the company’s distribution of 30,000 masks to the care home sector in April at a time of acute shortage and when the numbers of Covid-19 cases in care homes was rising rapidly. The masks were donated to members of Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI) and distributed throughout the country by NHI’s members.
Commenting on the donation of gowns Sean Bresnan, National Director of Procurement at the HSE said: “Whilst we are in a better place in addressing the challenges posed by the pandemic, now is not a time to be complacent. We are thankful to companies like Kingspan who have used their global supply chain relationships to help deliver high quality equipment to Ireland quickly.
These suits will help us continue to ensure that the doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers implementing our Covid-19 response are protected from the risks they face every day.”
Tadhg Daly, CEO of Nursing Homes Ireland said: “The delivery of 30,000 masks we received from Kingspan in April came at a crucial time for nursing homes throughout the country.
The global shortage of PPE was making it extremely difficult for our members to ensure they had sufficient supplies of equipment required to keep nursing home residents and staff safe.
I’m delighted to say that we are now through that phase of acute shortage, and we are extremely grateful to Kingspan for their unsolicited offer of help just when we needed it.”
KINGSPAN – CEO
Gene Murtagh, CEO of Kingspan Group said: “We are pleased to have been able to make this small contribution to help the heroes in our hospitals and care homes who have done so much in this crisis. Using our supply chain relationships to source high quality PPE as quickly as possible was the least we could do as a company to help.
On behalf of everyone at Kingspan I want to thank all the workers who have done so much to protect us, care for us, and keep us safe during this difficult time.”
Denise Maguire Editor of Irish Construction Industry Magazine