Lanyards are an important accessory for anyone working in the NHS. They enable you to easily gain access to areas of work by using a key card, and they also help to identify members of staff and their different roles.
When it comes to choosing the right kind of NHS lanyard, however, there are lots of options open to you. So, here’s everything you need to know about where to get NHS lanyards and how you can personalise them.
Pre-printed options
Many people are familiar with the NHS logo, with its distinctive white lettering and blue background. Lanyards with the NHS logo are readily available to all NHS staff, making them a convenient and affordable way to identify all healthcare workers in your organisation, whether in a large hospital or small surgery.
However, there are lots of ways that NHS lanyards can be personalised to suit your particular requirements and setting.
Surgery logo
The NHS is a huge institution, so even within this large organisation, there are lots of different healthcare environments operating as an individual business within a larger one. Each business may have its own individual logo, such as a local surgery. This can be incorporated onto a lanyard, together with the NHS logo, so that it is personalised to that individual setting, yet still recognisable as being part of the wider NHS.
Different departments
Where lots of healthcare staff work in a large setting such as a hospital, it may be useful to identify different employees relevant to a particular department. This is where personalising an NHS lanyard can be really handy, where you can include the name of the department on the material of the lanyard, such as cardiology, ophthalmology, urology, etc, alongside the NHS logo.
Title or roles
As well as personalising lanyards according to department areas, they can be printed with the specific title or role of the person wearing the lanyard, such as nurse or receptionist. This can make it easier for members of the public to help identify the right member of staff when they enter a healthcare building, and it can be important for the security of premises.
Rainbow lanyards
NHS rainbow lanyards were introduced in March 2019 to address the issues that LGBT+ people often have to deal with when accessing healthcare. The aim of the rainbow lanyard is to show that staff are happy to support the needs of those in the LGBT+ community. By introducing rainbow lanyards into your NHS setting, it’s a great way to tackle diversity and help everyone to feel that the NHS is an inclusive environment.
In more recent times during the Covid-19 pandemic, the rainbow has also been a symbol of hope, with many children, in particular, drawing rainbow pictures and displaying them in their windows. Choosing to have NHS rainbow lanyards can also help to reinforce this notion of hope, which is especially pertinent in a health-related setting.
Colour choices
You can choose to personalise an NHS lanyard with different wording, text, colours and logos. A professional, high-quality lanyard provider should be able to print a very wide range of colour options, so you can pick which one you want. You can even upload your own graphics and images to go with this so that the lanyard is truly unique to each individual or healthcare environment.
Material types
NHS workers can also decide which type of material they want for their lanyard. There are various options to choose from, such as woven, nylon or polyester. Which material you pick may be down to personal preference, but budget might also dictate your decision making, as some materials are cheaper than others. The more expensive options tend to be more durable, however, so for those NHS workers who think their lanyard will get a lot of use, it can often make sense to choose a material that is extra tough and long-lasting, especially if it might be used in different environments.
Some lanyard materials may not be suitable for those NHS workers who spend time outdoors, such as with patients, or porters who may carry or move equipment outside, as getting the lanyard wet may affect the print quality. Therefore, staff can pick the right material type to suit their working environment.
It’s also worth noting that the different materials can have an impact on the finish of the lanyard, where some may look shiny, textured, soft or smooth, for instance. NHS workers can personalise their lanyards according to the kind of finish they want to create.
Eco-friendly options are also available for those NHS institutions that prefer to make sustainable choices when deciding which type of lanyard to pick.
Length and width
How the NHS lanyard looks will be a key consideration when staff are deciding how to customise their lanyard accordingly, but it’s important to remember that the lanyard should be functional, too. Deciding on the required length and width is another way that NHS personnel can make sure their lanyard suits their specific daily requirements. For example, staff members who need to use the lanyard a lot, such as accessing lots of entry points with a key card, may require a longer length of lanyard compared to staff who sit at a computer all day long and rarely use the lanyard.
Accessories
NHS workers can also personalise their individual lanyards with a range of accessories, including badge card holders. These are available in a variety of different colours, so staff can choose one to match the colour of the lanyard material they have opted for. Rigid card holders can be used to carry key cards for NHS staff or for holding identification badges, making them a truly versatile option for any healthcare environment.
Antibacterial hand sanitisers can also be attached to lanyards, which is especially ideal for anyone working in a healthcare setting where regularly sanitising hands is important to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
However you wish to personalise your NHS lanyard, you will find a great range of options to suit your needs at Just Lanyards. Get in touch today to design your own lanyard or choose a pre-printed version.