ROYAL MAIL DELIVERS PPE TO NHS AND ADULT SOCIAL CARE LOCATIONS

Royal Mail is ramping up its support in delivering on behalf of the government personal protective equipment for key workers in care homes and GP surgeries.

As a key partner in the delivery of essential PPE, Royal Mail is working in partnership with the MOD, eBay and Clipper Logistics to support a major government initiative to ensure that frontline health and social care workers receive crucial PPE.

Royal Mail is providing final mile delivery to care homes and GP surgeries. Royal Mail has already made hundreds of deliveries to care homes across the England. Postmen and postwomen have been going the extra mile to ensure that staff who are in lockdown at care homes are able to maintain social distancing when accepting packages.

Health Minister Jo Churchill said: “We are working around the clock to ensure that those fighting this virus have all the equipment they need.

“I want to say a huge thanks to Royal Mail, their postmen and postwomen and all of our partners, who as part of this national effort to help get PPE to the NHS and social care staff as quickly as possible, have been amazing in stepping up to the task.”

Jack Titterton, Care Home Manager at Church Farm Nursing Home in Cotgrave, said: “We received an email from the NHS with a link to access different types of PPE for our care home for free, delivered by Royal Mail. PPE is so important at the moment. It’s Public Health England guidance that we all have to wear face masks in the care home, to protect everyone that lives with us. All the staff here are fantastic and they’ve got to be protected as they’ve got families at home. We’ve got to protect everyone.”

David Gold, Director of Public Affairs and Policy at Royal Mail said: “Royal Mail continues to support the NHS and social care during the coronavirus crisis. We are already working closely with pharmacy companies and NHS trusts across the UK by delivering many prescriptions and hospital appointments and delivering testing kits. We wish to reiterate our thanks to the many NHS workers across the UK who are working tirelessly to help those affected by the coronavirus crisis.”

Changes to protect our people and our customers during the coronavirus crisis

Royal Mail has committed £40 million to buying equipment such as hand sanitiser, disposable gloves and other additional protective measures to keep our people safe as they keep the UK connected during the ongoing lockdown.

The Universal Postal Service provides a lifeline to businesses and communities everywhere during the coronavirus crisis. The delivery of parcels and letters is a key way of keeping the country together and helping many people who may not have the option to leave their homes. The UK Government has recognised Royal Mail as having a key role to play in the national response to this emergency.

Royal Mail’s number one priority is keeping its people and customers safe. Royal Mail was one of the first delivery companies to introduce contact free delivery.  Where an item won’t fit through a customer’s letterbox, the postman or woman now places the item at the customer’s door, knocks, and steps aside to a safe distance while the customer retrieves their item. We are also temporarily not handing over hand-held devices to customers to capture signatures.  The vast majority of mail can be posted safely through the letterbox without any interaction with the customer at all. 

Royal Mail has changed its standard ways of working to ensure that, wherever possible, colleagues stay two metres apart. It has also implemented a new rule so that only one person is in a Royal Mail delivery vehicle at any one time. These new social distancing measures are aimed at offering further protection for our colleagues and our customers. We continue to promote regular hand washing with soap and water. We have also adopted enhanced disinfectant cleaning of communal areas in all Royal Mail sites on a daily basis. Royal Mail continues to follow the preventive guidance of global and domestic public health authorities.