SANITISER SAVIOURS
Hand sanitiser saviours How a Facebook group helped solve a national shortage
After having difficulty sourcing hand sanitiser for her practice, Anna Davidson, Practice Manager at Nelson Plaza Clinic in Nelson Bay, NSW, wondered how many others were facing similar issues. The desperate shortage of hand sanitiser meant some practices had already run out, and as product that was manufactured to the general practice required standard was in such short supply, Anna set a plan into motion. This story started in mid-March with Anna’s posts in the ‘Practice Managers Network’ Facebook group, comprising 4500+ mostly Australian general practice staff. Just one month later, Anna – along with Riwka Hagen, who runs the Facebook group, and Matt Gilchrist, a frequent group collaborator – were the force behind more than 5000 units of 5L hand sanitiser bottles being distributed to practices across Australia during the first wave of the pandemic. "The demand was overwhelming, from nurses, doctors, specialists – I had an oncologist email me desperate for hand sanitiser to maintain hygiene while treating patients with cancer," Anna told the ABC1.
Anna, Matt and Riwka worked tirelessly to establish and secure a pipeline for the manufacture and supply of hand sanitiser for health organisations in Australia. 7
SPRING 2020
The group, now called Hand Sanitiser Project Australia, teamed up with Mera Chemicals and WaterTest Systems, together with Manildra Group, to supply and distribute the hand sanitiser. It is estimated Mera Chemicals spent more than $650,000 to make the hundreds of thousands of litres of sanitiser for the Practice Managers Network. The story was picked up by many media outlets, including Crikey and the ABC. Practice managers like Trish Cuthbert, from Granite Belt Medical Services in Stanthorpe, Queensland quoted that their surgery would have been one of many that may have had to close had it not been for the efforts of Anna, Riwka and Matt.
