HEALTHCARE HYGIENE
SMALL STEPS TO BIG SAVINGS
With the ever-present stories of underfunding throughout the NHS continuing to make the front pages, it’s important that suppliers do their bit to help maintain standards in a cost-effective manner. Here, Paul Mulready explains how Northwood Hygiene Products are doing just that.
It is universally acknowledged that the hands are the principal route by which cross-infection occurs and that hand hygiene is the singlemost important factor in the control of infection and healthcare associated infections (HCAI).
They in turn are the most frequent adverse event during care delivery, with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) pointing out that a startling one in sixteen people being treated in the NHS picks up a hospital acquired infection such as MRSA. The Deputy Chief Executive of NICE, Professor Gillian Leng has said that ‘infections are a costly and avoidable burden’ and elsewhere, NICE goes on to state that ‘washing your hands, aside from vaccination, is probably the most effective contribution that can be made to public health.’
The NHS has a lot of issues surrounding it at the moment, some of which are clearly going to be ongoing for some time. Whatever your view, it is clear that there isn’t and can never be, a bottomless pit of funds that can put everything right overnight. So it does mean that whatever suppliers such as Northwood Hygiene Products Ltd can do to help maintain hand hygiene standards and deliver that in the most cost effective way, it can reasonably be regarded as being the kind of marginal gains management strategy that has gained increasing credence in other areas outside healthcare, including the world-beating British Cycling.
Leonardo Dispensing Systems are designed to allow that marginal gains philosophy to thrive. They are simple to fit without the need for highly skilled, occasionally hard to find and inevitably expensive technicians.
www.tomorrowscleaning.com
Should remedial work be required after the initial fit (we do try to always make it perfect first time!) disruption is minimal and short lived.
These handsome, tough dispensers are easy to clean and easy to monitor, which, together with their larger capacities, helps maintenance staff reduce the frequency of inspections without the risk of the dispensers running out of towel or tissue. Single sheet presentation with a controlled sheet length means that waste is hugely reduced whether or not it is manually operated or electronically dispensed. Anecdotally this reduction in waste appears to lead to users keeping the washroom tidier than previously, again to the benefit of the maintenance staff.
In a similar vein, the newly launched Leonardo Electronic Soap Dispensers incorporate the very latest developments and features in touchless electronic soap dispensing. For example, when battery power falls below a certain level, there is an automatic conversion to a manual operation. The panel on the dispenser lights up, users are directed to ‘Push – the – Cover’ and they are then able to pump the soap out manually. So hand hygiene standards are maintained, which is clearly especially important in hygiene critical areas and it has the additional benefit of making life easier for the cleaning operatives too. They are now visually alerted to the need for replacement batteries to be installed.
Like the hand towel dispensers, they are designed to be easy to fit, clean and maintain and such is their versatility, they can dispense lotion or foam soap or even a hand sanitiser as required,
with the sealed pouches ensuring that there is no risk of tampering.
Leonardo Dispensing Systems are installed in many hospitals and healthcare facilities across the UK, including Darent Valley and the James Cook Hospital. All have shown reductions in wastage and considerable and measurable cost in use savings. Not much when compared to the billions of pounds being spent in the NHS every year? Ask Sir Dave Brailsford or Sir Bradley Wiggins, or Laura or Jason if a marginal gains strategy makes a difference… and then look at Leonardo again.
www.northwood.co.uk Tomorrow’s Cleaning October 2016 33
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