A treatment centre has received specialist PPE masks, that can be used as a frontline defence from Covid-19, from a mapmaker.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the team at Will Adams NHS Treatment Centre in Gillingham is continuing to carry out vital work such as two-week wait endoscopies for foundation trusts across the county.

GPs make two-week wait referrals to hospitals when patients needs urgent appointments, as their symptoms might indicate cancer.

The teams were very grateful when they recently took delivery of 25 specialist face masks, created by cartographer and digital mapmaker James Anderson.

James makes them on his 3D printer at his home in Oundle, near Peterborough.

The masks take around three hours to make and are then sent to surgical teams across the country.

James said: “We all know people who have been affected, either physically by the virus or financially by the lockdown.

"Healthcare workers are risking their lives for the country every day, so the least I can do is help make sure they have as much protection as possible. I'm just happy I have the skills and equipment to help.”

Mark Gilmour, hospital director at the Will Adams NHS Treatment Centre, said: “We are very grateful to James for the masks that will help us keep colleagues and patients safe.

“The teams have adapted brilliantly and are working really well together.

"I am immensely proud as they have taken on new challenges with a smile on their faces and a determination to provide a key service in a caring and sensitive way for people who are having an anxious time while they wait for a diagnosis or treatment during lockdown.

“We would like to say thank you to James, to all those groups who have also donated cakes and to the children of Busy Bees Nursery in Rainham, who have created beautiful rainbow pictures and sent them in to the team. It is all greatly appreciated.”

If you would like to help James to create more masks, his Go Fund Me page can be found here.

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