FAQs

Some people thought we are trying to sell our shields to the NHS and make a profit. We really want to make it clear that ALL of our shields are donated to hospitals and healthcare workers at absolutely no cost. Additonally, volunteers are 100% non-profit, just doing their part to fight the war against Covid-19.

We chose the Badger Shield, cleverly designed by US company Delve because the design is both open-source and has been tried and tested in US hospitals, including the University of Wisconsin hospitals.

Using an open-source design that has already been approved by hospital workers saves us a lot of time designing something new, helping us to get a reliable product out to our NHS hospital workers faster than we would be able to otherwise, thus helping to fight Covid-19 more effectively.

The Badger Shield is a simple yet smartly designed shield which is also very practical and comfortable due to its elastic head strap and the addition of foam with provides the wearer with additional forehead comfort.

Additionally, the Badger Shield is easy and cost-effective to produce in the UK.

The formation of our team was amazing as it organically grew through our existing network. Our first introduction was when the Charco Nuerotech team were introducted to Barry and Gordon by Jesse from Devle, whom we had both contacted and put us in touch with each other.

Our shields are developed through guidlines of the revised manufacturing SOP:Face Visor Assembly developed by the clinical engineering innovation team at Addenbrooks hospital, specifically developed for the Badger Sheild.

We have the privilege to be working with one of the major UK NHS teaching hospitals. Our execution of the Badger Shield, designed by US company Delve has been formally tested on the wards with positive feedback. It has also been accepted for adoption by infectious control teams at two trusts.

We are aware that usually NHS hospital trusts require CE marked PPE and the practice of providing an open-source designed shield would not be an orthodox one.

However, in the current crisis we are experiencing in the UK, regulations have been changed and adapted to enable our frontline NHS workers to be better protected than they would be otherwise.

The hospital trust involved in our mission have worked tirelessly to finalise a revised version of the SOP. This process formed part of a quality system accredited to International Standard EN ISO 9001:2015, EN ISO 13485:2016 and BS 70000:2017.

The effectiveness of the process will be monitored in accordance with the methods given in the Quality Manual (CE-QS-QAM-4). The trust is acutely aware of the crisis facing the whole NHS. They have therefore agreed to share the SOP with all other NHS trusts across the UK. Though individual trusts will be free to adapt these we hope a shared collaborative effort will allow for a standardised SOP.

We would like to thank the Clinical Engineering Innovation team for keeping things abreast.

We take the safety of our NHS staff as seriously as we take COVID-19.

It takes appoximately 3 hours to assemble 300 shields.

We provide all materials and staples, we just ask that you have your own pair of scissors, ruler and measuring tape.

We do ask that our volunteers have their own gloves and face masks to ensure our safety requirements are fulfilled.