The HMP Safety Podcast: Episode 1 with Louise Church from the Royal College of Nursing

The UK’s HMP Safety campaign launches a new podcast series called the HMP Safety Podcast.

The HMP Safety Podcast is a new series produced and released by the SHBN and hosted by Dr Paul Grime, Chairman of the Safer Healthcare Biosafety Network.

The first episode is now live: HMP Safety Podcast – Episode 1 Louise Church Royal College of Nursing

In the first episode we hear from Louise Church, Head of Health, Safety and Wellbeing at the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). Louise leads the RCN’s campaign to protect nursing staff from occupational exposure to hazardous medicinal products (HMPs). A chartered member of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH), Louise also serves as joint staff-side chair of the NHS Staff Council’s Health, Safety and Wellbeing Group.

Louise is the author of the RCN Position Statement on Hazardous Medicinal Products, which sets out the urgent policy reforms needed to protect nursing staff across the UK. She has played a central role in driving the RCN’s engagement with government, Parliament and regulators, pushing for a statutory UK definition and national list of HMPs, mandatory minimum standards of control across the HMP lifecycle, and reform of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) regulations to give reproductive hazards the same level of protection as carcinogens and mutagens.

In this episode, Louise and Paul explore what HMPs are, who is most at risk across the NHS, why so many healthcare workers remain unaware of the daily dangers they face, and how UK legislation currently compares with standards already established in the EU and US.

Further episodes covering a range of topics around HMP exposure and safety will be released in the coming months on Spotify.

Follow the Safer Healthcare and Biosafety Network on LinkedIn for further updates on the campaign.