Hospital bans Crocs

Crocs, the fashionable plastic clogs, could be banned from all hospitals because it is feared they interfere with life-saving medical equipment. The soles on the shoes are thought to generate static electricity which is strong enough to knock out respirators and machines in operating theatres.

The comfy footwear has become hugely popular over the past few years and are a particular favourite with nurses as they enable them to endure long hours on their feet.

But they are now expected to be banned from the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS trust in South Yorks, and other hospitals are set to follow suit. The move comes after a hospital in Sweden reported malfunctions on respirators and other machines which they blamed on static electricity generated by the shoe.

The Blekinge hospital, near Karlskrona in the south of the country, said that at least three equipment failures had occurred in recent months, caused by staff wearing crocs.

Although no-one was injured, one hospital spokesman Bjorn Lofqvist warned that they were strong enough to cause a “cloud of lightening”.