A healthcare assistant has defended selling fake NHS uniforms on Tiktok to top up her income despite claims they put lives at risk.
Shannon Adey, 28, sells fleeces for between £16 and £28, giving buyers the option to put a hospital name, their own name and job title.
But they have been branded ‘dangerous’ by commenters responding to a health care assistant promoting them on TikTok for a commission.
Sold for between £16 to £28, buyers can put a hospital name, their own name, and job title on items like a dark blue fleece or hoodie emblazoned with a rainbow, almost identical to official ones.
‘I wanted to order one through work, but there was a backlog on it, so I just thought it’d be quicker’, Shannon, who is from the West Midlands, told Metro.
‘I’ve been waiting for a name badge since August, so I don’t actually know how long a jacket would have taken.’
Then she started advertising the ‘NHS fleece’ on TikTok, which she uses to generate a second income for her and her kids. At the time of writing, those videos were still online. One has more than 1million views.
Shannon admitted there could be a risk the ‘NHS fleeces’ advertised online could be used to impersonate medical staff.
‘But I can’t help that if people are already doing it’, she told Metro. ‘I just putting it for positive reasons. No matter what you promote, there’s always going to be someone that has a bad way of using it.’
Numerous retailers sell ‘Embroidered NHS Fleece Jackets’, ‘NHS Personalist Garment’ or ‘Personalised Hospital Fleece Jacket’ on platforms like TikTok, Amazon and eBay. Scrubs are readily available online.
Some suppliers label these as ‘only available for sale to NHS/Healthcare Organisations’ – with delivery to an NHS address and payment from an NHS organisation.
But this is not true for the ‘NHS Rainbow Fleece’ sold through the shop she promotes, which has sold more than 2,000. Anyone can buy them.
‘This advert is really really dangerous’, one person said. ‘Anyone can use this to mislead innocent people.’
Another said: ‘Imagine someone gets it with bad intentions to pretend they’re someone in that place. The world is scary enough.’
Those fears are not pure fantasy.
Last year, a woman posing as a doctor injected a patient with an unknown substance at Ealing Hospital in west London.
Kreuena Zdrafkova, who arrived wearing a white coat, stethoscope, medical gloves and a yellow badge, said she was ‘living out her dream of becoming a doctor. She pleaded guilty to common assault.
Earlier this year, a 13-year-old boy was arrested for impersonating a doctor – equipped with scrubs and an ID – at Plymouth’s Derriford Hospital. Police let him off with a warning.
It’s not just doctors being impersonated.
Andrew Vincent posed as a paramedic to con his way into the London Ambulance Service headquarters where he tried to steal confidential documents in 2015.
‘In the hands of someone intending to masquerade as a member of the ambulance service’, the prosecutor said. ‘That would assist them and in that situation there is always the danger of harm to others.’
Caught after staff recognised him as someone known to have a ‘dangerous obsession’ with ambulances, he admitted fraud and was handed community service and a restraining order.
Impersonating a doctor constitutes fraud as well as its own specific offence, punishable with a fine.
K.C.T. Embroidery said: ‘I do not sell any garments that includes the NHS logo, so I am not exactly sure who is concerned and why.
‘I have lots of customers requesting the NHS logo on their jackets, and these orders are all rejected.’
They added: ‘There is absolutely no intention in mimicking NHS uniforms.’
More Trending
The fleece used to advertise their products on their shop bears the name of Wirral University Teaching Hospital.
The NHS does not have a centralised system for supplying uniforms. Instead individual NHS trusts buy them from various suppliers. The Secretary of State for Health owns the trademark for the ‘NHS’ name and logo.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told Metro: ‘The NHS logo and the letters ‘NHS’ are registered UK trade marks, owned by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in England, who also owns the logo’s copyright. They may not be used or adapted without the Department of Health and Social Care’s authorisation.
‘We strictly control the NHS Identity and take unauthorised use of the NHS name very seriously. We take action if necessary, against cases of potential misuse that are brought to our attention. However, we cannot comment on the details of individual cases.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
MORE: Mum left disabled after ambulance that should have taken 18 minutes took two hours
MORE: How ‘innovative’ robots could soon be removing tumours during NHS surgery
MORE: Pill taken by millions on NHS ‘could also prevent leukaemia’
