Value fashion giant Primark is providing care packs containing 74,000 products to London’s new NHS Nightingale Hospital to help support efforts to beat coronavirus.

The donation is in response to calls for essential items from the NHS and is being accompanied by similar initiatives in other countries where Primark trades such as Ireland, Italy, Spain and the USA.

The packs contain underwear, leggings, T-shirts, footwear and towels and will be used by medical staff who are frequently working back-to-back shifts or away from home, as well as patients who need a change of clothes or toiletries.

Across the markets in which it trades, Primark will distribute care packs containing approximately 400,000 products. They have already been provided to organisations including the London Ambulance Service, hospitals in Ireland, the Spanish Red Cross and a partnership in the US with the Mayor of Boston’s Medical Intelligence Centre.

Primark chief executive Paul Marchant said: “This is our way of saying thank you to the healthcare heroes working tirelessly in the fight against Covid-19.

“We are proud to be able to provide much-needed everyday items and hope this will make things a little easier at the end of long shifts. I also want to thank all our colleagues who have played their part, volunteering to pack, coordinate and deliver care packs.”

NHS Nightingale deputy chief executive Matthew Trainer said: “Thank you to Primark. NHS Nightingale staff will find these packs of great use. This gesture means the world to our teams and is a great example of the generosity that that has been shown to the hospital since it opened.”

A variety of retailers, including Marks & Spencer, have also donated products to NHS Nightingale hospitals during the health emergency.