A New Clothing Style Prescribed By The NHS

What you wear has never been more closely aligned to your health than right now and in two weeks time the NHS is going to be paying particularly close attention to your wardrobe choices! You have till the 17^th April to familiarise yourself with a most surprisingly stylish new genre of fashion – patient clothing, as that is the date for the launch of the NHS’ UK-wide campaign to encourage patients of all ages to ‘get up, get dressed and get active’, as new data shows that most people say they would avoid walking around or having visitors if they are wearing a hospital gown, and now there are some rather attractive alternatives. Research carried out by YouGov on behalf of award-winning patient clothing company INGA Wellbeing revealed that over half (53%) of the 2,039 online questionnaire respondents said they would be uncomfortable walking around the hospital in a gown; almost two thirds (64%) felt uncomfortable about going outside to get some fresh air in a gown; and almost as many (62%) felt uncomfortable during visits from friends and family when dressed in the gown.

The findings are significant as they underline the premise of the #endPJparalysis campaign that what patients wear during medical treatment impacts how they behave and that in order to counter the negative effects of too much bedrest – infection, muscle loss and falls – patients of all ages need to get out of the gown, and pyjamas, and instead pack their bags with day clothes that make them feel good, and if necessary work when connected to medical devices! Chief Nursing Officer for England, Professor Jane Cummings, has pledged to encourage one million patients to get up, dressed and moving in the 70 days from 17^th April which will finish on 26 June in the lead in to the 70^th anniversary of the Founding of the NHS.

INGA Wellbeing patient clothing company co-founder Claire Robinson said the survey’s findings underscored the need for more dignified clothing solutions for patients and applauded the determination by NHS nurses and others to help patients get dressed. Not only has the INGA Wellbeing collection won awards for innovation in healthcare for directly addressing this problem, but it has also won awards for its timeless elegance in design, empowering patients to keep their identity.

“This survey shows just how very common it is for patients, dressed in either the hospital gown or traditional pyjamas, to be reluctant to get out of bed or have visitors and chimes with our own first-hand experience of the de-humanising and isolating impact of inadequate clothing during medical treatment. There are many hysterical comedy clips featuring the hospital gown, but this is no laughing matter. I saw my mother lose mobility shockingly quickly when she confined herself to her bed because of embarrassment about the gown during her cancer treatment,” Robinson said.

“Since too much bedrest has been shown to lead to additional health problems it is wonderful that nursing and therapy teams across the country are ready to tackle this issue head on. But just asking patients to bring in their home clothes will not always solve the problem as high-street brands are not adapted to the realities of IV lines, drains and monitors and already-stretched nursing teams will need to spend a great deal of time helping patients to dress and undress. Clothing such as ours, that works in a clinical setting, will ensure that this campaign succeeds and brings about real health improvements for patients – but more importantly it will help people feel better, be more comfortable and dignified.”#EndPJparalysis campaign founder Professor Brian Dolan welcomed the survey’s findings as further proof that a simple, non-medical change in how patients dress has the potential to significantly improve patient health and wellbeing. ‘Being stuck in PJs or a gown leads to patients adopting the sick role more readily which we know is not good for their psychological wellbeing’ Professor Dolan said. ‘Having clothing that is comfortable, addresses clinical requirements of drains, drips etc is what INGA Wellbeing offers and is a great solution that stops patients being a mosaic of detachable clinical conditions and humanises them again’.INGA Wellbeing’s Robinson urged nursing and therapy staff to update their patient information packs with guidance on the type of clothing that would be relatively easy for nurses to help patients to put on and take off, along with suggestions of where to purchase specially adapted patient clothing that provides greater dignity and ease of use. Indeed, she pointed to survey findings that patients and their loved ones want this kind of information as 69% of survey respondents said they would be interested in buying adapted patient clothing. Indeed, nurses and patients that have already tried the INGA Wellbeing range of men’s and women’s wear – which has been launched in the UK and Belgium – are convinced that it helps to deliver just the kind of results that the NHS campaign is looking for.