COMPANY NEWS
Philip Barnard, marketing director at Fabercon Ltd, discusses the merits of using Enduratex Contract Fabric vinyl to optimise the safety of patients in the battle against infection.
O
ne of the biggest issues facing the NHS in recent years has been the
seemingly incessant rise of hospital ac- quired infections. In the latter years of the Labour administration, new outbreaks of MRSA, C. difficile and E. coli among others appeared on newspaper front pages with alarming regularity. HAIs became a politi- cal football. The Conservatives in particu- lar questioned how difficult it could be to keep hospitals clean and parties of all col- ours put forward proposals they saw as key to reducing the risk of future outbreaks.
Deep clean
Amidst calls for the wide use of alcohol hand gels, screening, isolation wards and other measures, the Labour government followed a policy of ‘deep cleaning’ the country’s hospitals in a bid to eliminate outbreaks. The success or otherwise of deep cleaning seemed to depend on who was speaking.
With a change of government in 2010 came a refocusing of the battle to reduce infec- tions acquired in Britain’s hospitals. The new Health Secretary Andrew Lansley an- nounced early in his tenure that patients were to be given more information around the number of infections at hospitals, say- ing: “Patients deserve the highest stand- ards of care and expect to be kept safe from harm in hospital.”
Statistics
He promised that the new Coalition would be publishing weekly MRSA and C. difficile statistics, which would enable patients to make an informed decision about where to go for treatment. This was to be part of a vi- tal thrust of the Government’s proposed re- forms, helping patients themselves to drive up standards within the NHS and to build a patient-centred NHS that is among the best healthcare systems in the world.
To assist in these reforms, hospital pro- curement departments are increasingly striving to use technologically innovative equipment and materials of a much higher standard to counteract the problems that affect patient safety.
Inherent properties One such example is the Enduratex range
of fabrics, with their unique inherent prop- erties for infection control, particularly against MRSA and
E.coli.
Achieving high standards of infection con- trol usually means design and comfort have to be dispensed with, but not in the case of the Enduratex fabrics. Not only does it provide upholstery fabric with in- built infection control, it also provides an easier solution for daily care within the healthcare environment; furniture using the material can be steam-cleaned, wiped clean with hospital proprietary cleaners such as ‘Clor-clean’ or ‘Haz-Tab’ solutions. It is also ‘scrubbable’ under the Martindale Abrasion testing certification.
Enduratex contract upholstery material fits the infection control criterion admirably. Testing to international standards by the Textile Research Institute reveals that for MRSA (fig. 1) the clear zone of inhibition/
zone width was 9.2mm and for
E.coli (fig.2) the clear zone of inhibition/zone width was 2.5mm.
The bacteria in both infections were not only ineffective on the Enduratex fabric but moreover the environment nearest to the fabric was clearly seen to have significant results in limiting the spread of bacteria.
A&E and out-patient clinics are usually the first entry point for most patients who can spread these infections onto surfaces, which could then be transmitted to in-patients al- ready in a vulnerable condition in hospital care. Seating and occasional furniture is a prime example of where Enduratex can make a worthwhile contribution to patient safety.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
T: 01264 774245 E:
fabercon@boyriven.co.uk W:
www.enduratexuk.com
national health executive May/Jun 11 | 15
Fig 1: Tested against MRSA ATCC 33591
Fig 2: Tested against Escherichia coli ATCC 8739
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