Supporting the NHS
We have the highest regard for our NHS colleagues and the work they are doing in light of the Covid19 outbreak.
Amid the crisis, we’ve been working hard to find innovative solutions to ease the burden on our emergency services. We have been quick, for example, to react to the chronic shortages in PPE, using our state-of-the-art 3D printers to produce visors and face shields, and we’ve repurposed our solar laboratory facilities, switching temporarily to producing 5000 litres of hand sanitiser a week.
A team of our students have devised and developed a new rapid-release gas treatment for ambulances, which could remove Covid-19 contamination from surfaces and the air, in under twenty minutes, half the time it usually takes, removing human cleaning intervention. If trials are successful, it could also be rolled out for other blue light services, public transport and hospital wards.
Teams from across the University have also come together to support a newly-established consortium: SWARM (the South Wales Additive and Rapid Manufacturing Consortium) which is co-ordinating available industry, manufacturing and design capacity to get vital PPE to frontline services.
Our Medical School is closely aligned to the work of the NHS. To bolster support, more than 700 of our nursing students have chosen to complete their training on the frontline, taking on clinical roles in the midst of the pandemic. Final year medical students at Swansea have also chosen to been inducted as doctors following the option of early provisional registration.
Our response is part of a UK-wide effort amongst higher-education institutions. At Swansea, we will continue to do what we do best, using research to help our community, in any way we can.
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