We have introduced the ‘Gloves off' campaign to improve care and reduce our impact on the environment. So, staff will not be wearing gloves so often.

Why gloves are not always needed

During COVID, to reduce the spread of infection, staff needed to wear disposable gloves for almost everything.

However, now the pandemic is over, wearing gloves when they are not needed can:

  • increase the spread of infection, because we wash our hands less often
  • cause skin problems for our staff
  • is very wasteful and expensive.

Unless a patient is infectious, clean hands are as effective as gloves at stopping the spread of infections.

When gloves are not needed

Staff should now only use disposable gloves when necessary. We will still be washing our hands or using hand sanitiser.

We do not usually need to wear gloves for tasks such as:

  • touching a patient
  • checking vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure and temperature
  • giving injections or medication
  • pushing a chair, trolley or bed
  • handling food
  • using a phone or computer
  • cleaning
  • doing paperwork.

What difference this will make

The NHS currently uses over 1.4 billion disposable gloves every year. By reducing this, we hope to:

  • make care better and safer for patients
  • reduce skin problems for our staff
  • reduce our use of plastic
  • save money.

Contact information

We welcome your feedback.

Speak to our staff if you have any comments or concerns about the 'Gloves off' campaign.

Feel free to remind staff to wash their hands or use hand sanitiser when they are not using gloves.

If you would like to compliment, comment or raise a concern you can contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS):

PALS
Bernard Mead Wing
Open 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday (no appointment necessary)
020 8934 3993
khft.pals@nhs.net