HEALTHCARE HYGIENE


Looking at hygiene first, this is arguably the top priority in any hospital washroom. Staff, patients and visitors all need to have continuous access to soap and paper supplies to enable them to maintain a good standard of hand hygiene.


Where staff are concerned, these supplies should be user- friendly to enable healthcare personnel to wash and dry their hands on a regular basis without causing chapping and soreness. This is particularly important for wash stations in operating theatres and intensive care wards where hand washing is critical to infection prevention.


Foam or liquid soaps housed in sealed containers will prevent any risk of product contamination before use, while hand towel dispensers that give out only one towel at a time will help to keep the cross-infection risk to a minimum.


Tork Extra Mild Foam or Liquid Soaps are both good options since they are gentle on the skin. This means they will help to protect frequently-washed hands from chapping and soreness, particularly when used in conjunction with Tork Non-perfumed Hand & Body Lotion.


In hygiene-critical wash stations in an intensive care unit, towels that are particularly soft to the touch are a good solution since these will prevent the risk of chapping when used frequently. Tork Xpress™ Extra Soft Multifold Hand Towels work well since they are kind to the skin while their high absorbency allows them to efficiently ‘blot’ the hands dry.


All soap and paper systems should be designed to give out only one sheet of paper or shot of soap at a time. This will have the twofold benefit of reducing costs in use and improving the sustainability of the facility. Lower consumption leads to less waste and fewer deliveries – both major sustainability benefits.


Since many hospital patients are elderly, frail or weak, washroom systems should be easy to use. Liquid and foam soaps provide a hygienic alternative to soap bars but some push-button dispensers require a certain amount of force in order to access the soap inside. This might be a challenge for elderly patients with weak hands, arthritis or rheumatism.


Meanwhile, products such as the Tork SmartOne® toilet


tissue dispenser will help to keep the washroom safe. The Tork SmartOne has been designed for use in vulnerable healthcare environments since it is robust and hygienically- sealed and contains no fissures or crevices where sharps or medication could be stored. The dispenser has also been designed to give out only one sheet of paper at a time which cuts consumption, reduces waste and keeps down costs.


In patient and visitor washrooms, Tork Soft Singlefold Hand Towels have been designed to provide a gentle and effective hand dry. As a result these towels have been a bestseller within the healthcare sector for many years.


To supplement good hand hygiene compliance, a sanitising product should be made available to staff in a convenient format. Tork Alcohol Gel Hand Sanitiser, for example, can be clipped to the patient’s bed or kept in the medical worker’s pocket where it will always be on hand when required.


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In many healthcare hand hygiene studies it appears that staff often claim to be too busy to wash their hands as frequently as they should while others complain of a shortage of hand hygiene facilities. It is therefore vital that a continuous supply of soap and paper towels is on hand and that washing and drying should be as quick and seamless as possible.


All soap and paper dispensers should be easy to use and provide immediate access to the consumables inside. Hand dryers are not recommended in healthcare since they take too long to effectively dry the hands, while paper towels have the added hygiene advantage of physically removing any excess bacteria from the surface of the skin.


Mild soaps in high capacity dispensers, coupled with hand towels in a format that help to control consumption will ensure that supplies need never run out. But a system such as Tork EasyCube will make doubly sure that empty dispensers will not be an issue.


Tork EasyCube enables cleaners to check remotely via a smartphone or tablet which dispensers need replenishing. Besides ensuring a continuous supply of vital hand hygiene products, Tork EasyCube will also result in major labour savings, which will have a huge benefit on healthcare costs.


Equipping a hospital’s washrooms and wash stations is always a juggling act. But a good washroom supplier who understands the specific needs of the healthcare sector will create an efficient balance between the ‘juggling clubs’ of hygiene, cost, safety and sustainability.


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