Single Use Surgical chosen to package and sterilise 1.92 million items of PPE to protect NHS staff against COVID-19

Single Use Surgical*, part of Eakin Healthcare Group, have signed a contract to package and sterilise 1.92 million surgical isolation gowns – a move that will create 45 new jobs and protect frontline NHS staff against COVID-19. The project is well under way, with weekly deliveries into NHS England having already started this month.

The protective equipment is manufactured by Survitec, a British manufacturer of personal survival equipment who contacted Single Use Surgical in April after hearing about the company’s EO capabilities. The two companies quickly established a good relationship over Microsoft Teams during lockdown and progressed to dispatching gowns this month.

The partnership will see Single Use Surgical recruit up to 45 people to support the operation over the next year. These positions will be temporary but could be made permanent if the demand for PPE continues.

Single Use Surgical say the move is a step away from their usual business but welcome the opportunity and the challenge.

The PPE will be manufactured in Survitec’s Birkenhead factory, which has continued to operate during the COVID-19 crisis, supporting the UK’s aerospace and defence industries. This has now been expanded to include a dedicated site for production of these life-saving gowns. The company will be hiring over 100 additional workers from the local area to support this critical work.