INFECTION CONTROL
Lessons from pandemic must inform future practice
Stuart Skinner, senior Product manager at water controls specialist, Rada, looks at what can be learnt from the initial response to COVID-19, and how those learnings can inform the role that infection control plays in the very fabric of our healthcare infrastructure.
The NHS’s initial response to the COVID-19 crisis has, through collaborative and unprecedented effort, been successful in maintaining critical care capacity. Despite this, healthcare providers have seen resources placed under huge strain. Staff have been providing complex care for high numbers of COVID-19 patients while continuing to deliver emergency treatment and outpatient services – all while operating under stricter than ever infection control measures. When there is no cure or vaccination as yet, preventing the spread of infection is the first line of attack. With human interaction at the centre of disease transmission, any space people use can, if not correctly configured, aid the spread of infection. COVID-19 is a new virus, and its trajectory and continued impact remain uncertain, and with Chinese scientists already warning of a new ‘flu virus with pandemic potential identified in animals, it’s no surprise that conversations around infection control are intensifying.
RCN’s call
Marking 100 days into the COVID-19 crisis, the Royal College of Nurses (RCN) issued a call for eight principles on safeguarding and rebuilding healthcare services, centred on frontline nurses’ needs. The seventh principle struck me as particularly resonant for the healthcare built environment:
‘Nurse leaders in all sectors must be given the authority and resources to transform, re-open, and rebuild services safely. In doing so, nurse leaders must be able to futureproof the infection control and critical care capabilities and capacity achieved during the past 100 days. This must be done with consultation and the support of the RCN.’
Now is the time then to think about how we can manage the risk of major public health emergencies long-term using the fabric of our estates.’ In Rada’s world of water controls, this means washrooms and handwashing facilities. These are critical spaces to consider, as they play a vital role in cleanliness and infection prevention. They also present a key risk area in terms
58 Health Estate Journal August 2020
of surface contact, transmission, and interaction with others – for both staff and patients. Our experience in the sector has already shown us that the potentially devastating implications of infections can be a driving force for change.
Northern Irish neonatal deaths Only four years ago, the Health Technical Memorandum series was updated to offer specific guidance on Pseudomonas aeruginosa control through water controls (HTM 04-01, Part C). This followed a review into the tragic incident in Northern Ireland in 2012, where infant deaths on a neonatal ward were found to have been caused by Pseudomonas. The bacteria had developed inside taps, and were transmitted via surface contact. This is just one example of how vital it is to ensure the healthcare environment itself is supporting infection control. COVID-19 is, of course a very different case to Pseudomonas, and it’s still too early to say what wider impact it may
have on the future of healthcare estates. However, experience suggests there are always learnings to be found in such incidents, and these learnings should lead to change.
Responding to the crisis One key learning we have already is that the adaptability and ingenuity of healthcare staff and estates teams is incredible. From the provision of PPE, to the manufacture of ventilators, cross- sector efforts to sure up estates and NHS services in readiness for the initial threat presented by COVID-19 were huge. What we have seen at Rada, and taken from our involvement in the initial response, is the way innovation and collaboration between the private and public sector led to the rapid adaptation and creation of facilities. NHS England, central government, and the private sector, worked alongside the supply chain to ensure capacity; NHS Nightingale hospital facilities have happily so far not
Rada’s Intelligent Care basin mount tap with non-touch flow.
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