Smile for the camera: NHS workers are sticking photos of themselves on their PPE to connect with patients

Patients can't see the faces of healthcare workers in PPE – but one initiative wants to change that 
Clinicians at the NHS Western Hospital in Edinburgh have created photos of themselves to pin to their PPE equipment
Fujifilm
Amelia Heathman4 June 2020

Healthcare workers across the world are strapping themselves into personal protective equipment (PPE) every day in order to keep themselves, and their patients, safe from Covid-19.

Unfortunately, all that equipment puts layers between a doctor or nurse and their patient. Patients can’t see a smile or a friendly face in their worst moments, and it removes that personal connection between clinicians and patients.

Camera maker Fujifilm has been searching for a way to help with this and came up with one potential solution: instant cameras.

The company has donated its Instax instant cameras to 31 intensive care units across the UK which allow doctors and nurses to take a photo of themselves and attach it to the front of their hospital gowns so their patients can see the person behind the mask.

Speaking about the initiative, CEO of the Patients Association Rachel Power, said: “PPE is vitally important for both keeping patients and doctors safe and reassuring patients about their safety at a worrying time. But there’s no doubt that masks can be a barrier between doctors and patients, or even transform a comforting presence into a disconcerting one.

“Having photos of the doctor without their mask is a simple but imaginative idea that should provide a lot of reassurance to patients who will be able to see the face behind the mask.”

It’s not just the NHS which is benefiting from the donation, but also 50 hospitals across eight countries in the UK. So far, 120 cameras and 7,500 prints have been sent to hospitals in Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and France.

A clinician at Florence Nightingale Hastanesi hospital in Turkey with an instant picture of themselves to show their patients who is treating them (Fujifilm )
Fujifilm

Fujifilm UK’s general manager Neil Harris said: “Donating instax cameras and film is just a small way in which Fujifilm is able to help – but to both NHS staff and patients, we’ve been told that by being able to easily show the friendly face behind the PPE, it can help bring comfort and understanding in the most difficult of situations.”

If you’re a healthcare worker and want to receive a special Instax kit, Fujifilm says to contact this email address: comms_uk@fujifilm.com.

Fujifilm isn’t the only tech company donating gadgets to help coronavirus patients in NHS hospitals. In April, Samsung donated 2,000 smartphones for NHS staff to use in Nightingale hospitals. The Galaxy XCover 4s phones are designed to be used while wearing globes, with the idea that staff can help patients video chat or call their family and friends who were unable to visit.

Facebook also donated 2,050 of its Portal video-calling devices for the same reason. Hospitals and care homes in Essex, London, Manchester, Newcastle and Surrey all benefited from the donations.

At the time, Samsung’s chief executive of Samsung UK and Ireland Francis Chun said: “Everyone of us is deeply indebted to the NHS and frontline supporters. However small the comfort may be, we hope that technology can alleviate some of the anguish this is causing on those most impacted.”

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