People need to stop knitting and donating chocolate etc our hospital!

[AuntyClockWise]

I was drafted in to help nursing staff today sort through 300 (yes, really) Easter eggs that have been donated over the past few weeks and sort these for food banks and care homes and childcare hubs. Took half a day plus lots of storage space.

A lady turned up at the hospital with 30 home made/sewn face masks. She was very angry when the main desk had to turn her away and decline the items as apparently she'd spent ages on them and had travelled a long way to get them to the hospital. Again, more time spent dealing with this person and not to mention the fact she had travelled unnecessarily.

Where has this idea come from for people to donate so much stuff to hospitals? Don't people realise that PPE has to meet a certain level of safety standard so we need to get from reliable and tested companies? Do people think that we have the space and time to deal with all the food and drinks donated?

Our hospital has put out a facebook post today to reiterate we can't accept donations like these and there are now hundreds of angry responses calling us ungrateful and that they're annoyed this wasn't said sooner as they've spent weeks knitting and sewing various things for the nurses and doctors to use on the wards.

I'm sure people are trying to be nice but why isn't common sense prevailing? Why not donate time and energy to a place which has the resources and ability to accept such donations?

Of course, I'm only able to speak for common feelings shared today in my place of work. Some other people here might say they are loving the donations.

Just wanted to suggest on here that if you are considering donating something to your local hospital, I'd suggest phoning the main desk first or sending them an email as the likelihood is that they can't accept it.

Honestly I’m genuinely confused. In my village we have a team of home sewers making scrubs, headbands, scrub caps and more. They said they’ve teamed up with the local hospital trust and they are desperate for these items. So is this all a SM farce

No. As i've said lots, some places want donations and some places don't. One hospital not wanting donations doesn't mean all hospital in the UK don't want donations. Likewise, one hospital requesting donations doesn't mean all hospitals in the UK will accept donations.

It is up to the individual to check the items they intend to donate are wanted rather than assuming their local hospital or care home will automatically accept it.

In your situation, it sounds like the sewing group have made the right call and liaised with the hospital about what they want rather than spend ages making things and assuming they'll be wanted. Completely different scenario to what happened at my place of work.

At the hospital I work at there's a lot of admin staff that are not as busy as usual due to cancelled activity- some of them have been allocated to sort out the VERY valued donations, and bringing them to each ward... I don't get why 3 trained nurses are being asked to do it (and take 4 hours in doing so)?? As an ICU nurse after a 12 (...14) hour shift in full PPE my Easter egg was the best thing I'd seen all day! Obviously we can't take the fabric masks but I'm sure a lot of places would be very grateful for them.

@DobbyTheHouseElk we’re definitely accepting scrubs, hats), head bands and bags. Thank you for all tour efforts.

Although not expected - all food has also been used. Particularly helpful for the staff who are unable to go home as a family member is self isolating. These people are staying on accommodation for 14 days, often in just a room with no kitchen area they can use.

I'm not saying stop donating to all hospitals. I'm saying people need to stop donating to ours

Super helpful OP. Are we just supposed to psychically guess which hospital you are talking about then?

People are doing it for themselves. That all important, feel good, dopamine hit. They don't want to hear that the items aren't needed or are unsuitable.

Just go to the scrubs for love Facebook page, they have hospitals listed who have confirmed what they need, what specifications and how much and it's being coordinated by local reps.

What "sorting out" of the chocolate took took 4 people 4 hours?! They could only have been moving it from one place to another, surely?!

Well I work in a hospital and every one has been extremely grateful for all the gifts.
We've had flowers, easter eggs, biscuits, hand cream, bath bombs, uniform bags, headbands for face masks and a coffee machine complete with 200 pods!
Nobody has complained and everything has been taken. Alot of us have children who appreciated the chocolate.
It makes me feel guilty accepting this stuff but it also gives each and every one of us a little boost at the end of a long day.

I think the problem is co-ordination. Someone needs to manage the needs, request staff don’t individually make social media requests and match the demand and incoming supplies. For example takeaway curries every night is not helpful and potentially wasteful.
Ultimately someone needs to create a liaison point for wards, staff and the outside supplies. There is no other way to help yet prevent wastage.

@AuntyClockWise I still don't understand why your hospital didn't just refuse the donations, or suggest alternative places for them to donate the eggs.

Are we just supposed to psychically guess which hospital you are talking about then?

No. As the OP said, YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO CHECK WITH THE HOSPITAL WHAT THEY WANT.

Unwanted donations are a huge headache to sort out. Why would you want to put extra pressure on hospitals to have to deal with huge piles of unwanted and inappropriate donations of things at the moment?

Maybe this will help Mumsnet understand the issue: The hospital is the parent of young children in a small house. The people giving unwanted donations are the MIL who turns up every Christmas with 10 bin liners full of inappropriate gifts that have to be stored/regifted/recycled/taken to the charity shop. But the parent doesn't have a car and has to do all this by hand. Who is BU? The MIL or the parent?

As a tax payer, were you happy today that you were funding 3 nursing staff and a HCP to spend 4 hours sorting out chocolate when there were buzzers going off on wards because patients needed attended to and the hospital is already short staffed? This was seen as a priority job for us as staff were unable to take their breaks/make their lunches and someone had questioned fire hazards due to space and infection control issues.

But that is just beyond ridiculous, I honestly cannot comprehend why anyone would carry on whilst listening to buzzers going off, or why they were accepted in the first place. It doesn't seem to really be an issue with the donations, but the hospital not managing to reject them, inform people properly of what they need etc, and healthcare staff not questioning why they have been called in to do that. Dump them outside, say to people to go and collect some after their shift; 300 in a hospital isn't a huge amount.

Which hospital is this and I will make sure I don’t donate anything to it ?

it makes me feel guilty accepting this stuff but it also gives each and every one of us a little boost at the end of a long day.

Don't feel guilty, people have happily donated it knowing where it is going, enjoy :)

People are doing it for themselves. That all important, feel good, dopamine hit. They don't want to hear that the items aren't needed or are unsuitable.

Nope. I did it because I was asked to because DDIL has got bloody sore ears from wearing a mask all day long, as have lots of nurses, doctors and other healthcare professionals. I wish I could do more but I'm disabled so I can't.

If it took 4 people 4 hours to sort through 300 eggs you would probably have been quicker eating them

Our Trust has been extremely grateful for all the donations we've received. We had 500 Easter eggs which were divided up and distributed across the various sites. We have over 5000 staff so they were snapped up! Lots of people have made headbands and are sewing scrubs and we've had schools donate visors they've made on their 3D printers. It's been brilliant. The only thing we cant really accept are home cooked meals or things like sandwiches which need to be be refrigerated.

Super helpful OP. Are we just supposed to psychically guess which hospital you are talking about then

I'm absolutely not going to name my hospital here as that would be hugely identifying info and I can't be fussed with another name change today nor the crap I'd be in at work tomorrow about this post (as I'm sure my hospital's Facebook page would end up with heaps more mean comments from people going there from this thread).

The takeaway from this thread is to use common sense and check with places about their stance on donations rather than assume they will take your items, no matter how well intentioned your actions are.

It doesn't seem to really be an issue with the donations, but the hospital not managing to reject them

Exactly. By all means tell people you aren't accepting donations, suggest alternatives. I don't understand why they'd accept donations and then moan about it taking 4 hours and 4 staff members to sort. This is something that could have been sorted with a polite sorry no thank you, perhaps XYZ would be a better place to donate.

How/Why are 4 trained staff members sorting chocolates for 4 hours?

It pains me that people are still not getting the point of this. Instead of being upset about the prospect of your donations not being accepted, why not contact your local hospital or care home and ask if they want your items (ideally before you've made/bought anything so that your donations can be targeted)?

Further still, why are some people on here upset/offended saying they've wasted their time making things when they say in their next sentence these things have been specifically requested by their hospital? That's completely different to the difficulty I'm explaining i.e. unwanted donations!

My local hospital has set up an Amazon wishlist of items that they WANT donated to the hospital. If people donate via the Amazon wishlist then only items that they have requested can be bought and sent.
I know this won’t solve the whole issue, but it will go some way to asking for donations for needed and useful items.
This hospital is also very active on SM about donating items to the food bank, or other charities if they don’t want\need the item that has been donated directly.

Loads of people contacting their local hospital doesnt sound sustainable either though, people should check social media and perhaps a local piece in the local paper for those who don't use Facebook etc. My friend is in Comms for ours and working from home, and it makes much more sense for them to be utilised rather than receptionists etc.

How/Why are 4 trained staff members sorting chocolates for 4 hours

Small hospital. Lots of staff off sick/on leave/we're generally short staffed.

Managers decided this was a priority as the chocolate was taking up space and blocking access to fridge, microwaves, kettle and seating area for staff to take their breaks. Domestics also saying they couldn't clean the rooms properly due to them.

I'm not a manager so wasn't the one who made the decision to prioritise this task today.

Similarly, i didn't make the decision to accept the eggs in the first place so can't account for why these were accepted.

Our local hospital has put out a call today for knitted hats for newborns.