WATER SYSTEM SAFETY
System proves effective in combating P. aeruginosa
Horne Engineering reports on the positive reception given to its In-Line Thermal Disinfection Unit by the head of Healthcare Compliance at Skanska, who had been looking for an effective means of combating the persistent challenge of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in hospital water settings. The thermostatic controls specialist says he is now an enthusiastic champion of the technology.
James Donagain, head of Healthcare Compliance at Skanska UK, is relentless in his commitment to upholding rigorous and sustainable hygiene standards within healthcare facilities. His tireless pursuit led him to confront the persistent challenge of Pseudomonas aeruginosa contamination, in particular at the inherently vulnerable periphery of domestic water systems. Following a journey of discovery, James has whole-heartedly embraced a simple, yet ground-breaking new technology, emerging as its enthusiastic champion. A well-seasoned chartered health
and safety practitioner, and stalwart of compliance, James boasts extensive qualifications and considerable expertise in water hygiene. Throughout his career, he has discerned that Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) contamination at the periphery of water systems is often pervasive and widespread, and also potentially unavoidable. Moreover, his tenacity and strong desire to ‘do the right thing’ to guarantee patient safety, alongside his wealth of experience, has really shone a light on the profound inadequacies of many conventional approaches to the P. aeruginosa problem. So, combining an open mind with a healthy scepticism, he began exploring alternative solutions.
CPD presentation Leading James’s inquiry was a new product, the In-Line Thermal Disinfection Unit (ILTDU) from Horne Engineering, a system he first encountered while serving as Hard FM manager at a Cambridgeshire NHS Trust, during a CPD presentation: ‘Engineering versus Pseudomonas, Legionella, and the retrograde contamination of domestic water services by microorganisms’. This patented technology facilitates routine thermal disinfection local to a single outlet, using the readily available system temperature hot water and, crucially, without placing excessive strain on the hot water system. The presentation and concept sparked
The Horne In-Line Thermal Disinfection Unit (ILTDU).
fresh ideas in his mind, and he eagerly anticipated an opportunity to personally test the design. A few months later, James moved
into a new role with Zeta Compliance Services as Water Compliance consultant / Authorising Engineer (Water), and began advising a number of NHS Trusts and their facilities management providers. One of his first clients was King’s College Hospital (KCH) in London. Here, he was fascinated to learn that
several ILTDU installations were already in progress – presenting him with an ideal opportunity to coordinate a detailed evaluation. Consequently, and with approval from KCH’s Estates team, he embarked on a thorough examination of the technology’s efficacy in combating Pseudomonas contamination. Thorough microbiological data were
systematically gathered and scrutinised, a baseline established, and additional testing and analysis undertaken over a span of six months. The data compared ILTDU-equipped installations (including taps, TMVs, and showers) with comparable ‘control’ installations not fed via an ILTDU. The results were remarkable,
showing clear and notably diminished Pseudomonas aeruginosa counts for the
thermal disinfection group. The favourable findings from this assessment prompted King’s College Hospital to adopt ILTDU technology as a standard specification for all forthcoming refurbishment projects, and other ‘positive’ outlets as they were identified. This would include installing the ILTDU as an independent unit supplying thermostatic mixing valves (TMVs) and other showers and thermostatic taps (from other manufacturers), alongside T4/ T9 type showers from Horne, which are equipped with an integrated ILTDU.
Midlands Trust At the same time, James acquired another NHS client, a sizable tertiary care NHS Trust located in the Midlands. On discussing the difficulties that the Trust’s Water Safety Group (WSG) was experiencing at that time, he was not surprised to learn that they, too, were having an ongoing struggle with pervasive and recurring retrograde Pseudomonas aeruginosa contamination of the water system. The Group willingly provided its dataset of water sample results spanning the previous three years, along with corresponding costs, and detail on the wasted time incurred for all attempted mitigation efforts.
April 2024 Health Estate Journal 49
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