VOLUNTEER technicians and back office staff at Aston Martin Works, the heritage home of the brand in Newport Pagnell, are running a scheme to offer emergency vehicle repairs to NHS staff at Milton Keynes University Hospital.
The free service, launched at the end of March, is currently averaging around two emergency repairs per day with typical problems ranging from punctures and issues triggering dashboard warning lights to brake pad replacements.
The NHS staff using the service simply pay for any required parts, sourced at significantly discounted rates from local parts suppliers.
Aston Martin Works president Paul Spires said: “At this critical time for the NHS, we want to try to do our bit to keep the vital key workers of Milton Keynes Hospital on the road if we possibly can.
“All the Works team members involved in the project are offering their skills on a voluntary basis and they are thrilled to be able to give something back to the NHS at this time of unprecedented pressure on hospital staff.”
Meanwhile, Aston Martin has joined the campaign to provide Personal Protective Equipment to frontline NHS workers during the coronavirus crisis. The British luxury carmaker is working on a new respiratory protection device, protective visors and gowns.
One of the most hazardous procedures for intensive care staff treating Covid-19 patients is the intubation and extubation process and the NHS is seeking an extra layer of protection for staff during respiratory procedures.
Working with its project partner Multimatic, Aston Martin is helping the Manufacturing Technology Centre to refine and produce a new respiratory protection device. This intubation shield is in simple terms a Perspex box that goes over a patient’s upper body during procedures, protecting the medical staff but also allowing them the access they need to the patient.
Aston Martin and Multimatic have designed and created a tool so that the Perspex component can be made in one piece, which then allows the boxes to be stacked, taking up less room in busy intensive care wards. It also means that the MTC can deliver the boxes at the rate now required by the NHS.
Aston Martin is also utilising the state of the art cutting machines at Gaydon, normally used to cut out intricate leather shapes for sports car interiors, to cut out the silicone components that are used in the assembly of the box.
This brand new design has been turned around in a matter of days and is now being trialled at the Royal London Hospital.
“The local community is very important to Aston Martin so we are delighted to be able to help our local hospitals,” said Aston Martin Lagonda president and group chief executive Andy Palmer. “The frontline NHS workers are protecting us from Covid-19 so we want to do what we can and try to protect them by supplying visors and gowns.
“Times of crisis are also times of great innovation. Everyone we approached stepped up without hesitation and they should all be proud.”
by ANDREW GIBBS e: news@businessmk.co.uk
