It’s important to have a variety of clothes available to fit patients of different sizes.
It may look like a stack of football merchandise, but these clothes will go to help some of the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital’s most vulnerable patients.
Clothing is a basic right for people experiencing disadvantage. The RBWH Emergency and Trauma Centre (ETC) and Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) regularly have patients present in crisis after leaving abusive or unsafe situations with limited or no belongings and/or clothing. Clothing may also be taken by police when the presentation is criminally related and sometimes clothes are soiled or damaged and must be discarded.
The ETC and SART, along with other areas of the hospital with vulnerable patients, require a consistent supply of appropriate clothing to support this group. The importance of dignified care is fundamental to healthcare practice and providing comfortable and appropriate clothing is an important factor in maintaining the patient’s dignity, comfort, and wellbeing.
Brisbane City Football Club, based at nearby Spencer Park in Newmarket, has generously donated boxes of club shorts, shirts, socks and jumpers in a range of sizes to the RBWH’s library of clothing for those patients in need. It’s important to have a variety of clothes available to fit patients of different sizes.
The clothes are from previous seasons’ kits and have never been used.
Now, rather than going into the discount section at a sports store, or being thrown away, they can serve an important purpose – supporting the dignity and comfort of our patients.