Collaborative working has led to the creation of the Community Kit Bag, a unique innovation by nurses.
The result of passionate collaboration between frontline NHS nurses, the kit bag is an infection prevention compliant kit bag system. It is proven to save community care teams both time and money as they provide essential healthcare services.
Organisation development practitioner Steven Yull was one of the staff members who helped bring the bag to life. He described it as a “real family effort.”
“Need is the mother of all invention” was Steven’s response when asked why the kit bag was first created. The initial concept for the bag came about after a community nurse new to the Trust had no suitable bag to keep all of her equipment in.
Steven added: “We soon realised there was no off-the-peg kit bag solution for community care staff that actually met our organisation’s needs.
“Each nurse is like a boy scout or a girl guide, they want to be prepared. They don’t want to go and meet a patient without everything they need, because they know how important that is. That is why we created the Community Kit Bag.
“Our innovation is a real family effort and I’m so pleased that it’s benefitted other organisations across the country too.”
How does the kit bag help?
Steven continued: “The bag is designed to meet all of the different needs of community care staff. And it’s flexible enough that if products or nursing interventions change, it can adapt. It’s a very good solution that allows change and development.
“The Community Kit Bag is a solution for many challenges faced by healthcare staff working in the community, helping them travel with their equipment in a future-proofed way. It means they can give patients the reassurance they have the correct equipment and that it is clean and in date.
Practice development lead and district nurse Moraig Orpen was also involved in the creation of the kit bag. She added: “I think the district nurses and community staff nurses who use it feel quite proud that they’ve got their own kit bag, and that it’s got our logo on, as we are proud of the organisation that we work for.”
It has since been brought to life by the innovations team at NTH Solutions, a subsidiary company of the Trust. Now, the kit bag is already being used by hundreds of community care practitioners across the UK.
If you would like to find out more about the Community Kit Bag, please visit NTH Solutions.
