WATER CONTROLS
We’re pleased with our own progress, but it needs to continue on its current trajectory. I think that there are learnings to be shared across the healthcare supply chain too. We’ve always been advocates for closer conversations and collaboration. The NHS relies on its supply chain to lead by example, and manufacturers like ourselves need to be leading the conversation on ‘clean and green’, not looking to others to step up instead.
Cross-disciplinary collaboration Cross-disciplinary collaboration isn’t a new concept, but it’s an important one. For water hygiene and infection control, updates to the Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) 04-01 guidelines in 2016 emphasised the importance of working together by introducing Water Safety Groups. Sharing corporate incentives, case studies, and best practice examples, must become the norm for green initiatives too.
We’ve an example to share. Meeting the safety requirements – and our own high standards – for water controls involves a rigorous testing process. Where possible, we test our products’ resilience with pressurised air, not water. Not only does this conserve water, but it also prevents any potential waterborne contamination throughout the manufacturing and quality-testing process; safer and more sustainable.
Greener guidance for greater returns A ‘green, clean’ dialogue across the Estates function and all aspects of its supply chains is central, and the NHS framework sets the foundations for this in its roadmap to net-zero. When it comes to the planning, design, and maintenance of the healthcare built environment, however, more regulatory change will likely come. Let’s look at the Healthcare Technical Memorandum series, for instance. These are the guidelines that inform every stage of a healthcare estate’s development and operations, and have been for quite some time. The HTM series is extensive, so guidelines are only revised as and when updates are deemed necessary, in the light of specific learnings or new insight. For instance, the HTM 04-01 paper I mentioned earlier was revised in 2016 to account for additional safeguarding measures to prevent Pseudomonas infection in augmented care.
While energy and resource efficiency are already part of the regulatory framework, I think it’s fair to say that existing guidelines don’t reflect the latest climate commitments we’ve made. For example, HTM 07-04: Water Management and Water Efficiency, was published in 2013, seven years prior to the interventions that the NHS outlines for achieving net-zero emissions by 2045. It seems
62 Health Estate Journal January 2021
planet as to people is key. Meaningful revisions to healthcare guidelines for achieving net-zero will ultimately rely on consultation and engagement with every part of the estates development journey. From design to procurement and operation, truly ensuring that clean and green is the central notion of ‘duty of care’ relies on this collective effort.
Rada’s online water and power savings calculator allows estates teams to easily review the current consumption rates of existing installations, and quantifies the volume of water, electricity, and emissions saved via switching to its controlled-flow products.
reasonable to assume that more drastic regulatory changes are due throughout the HTM series, and I think we’ve all got a role to play in what those changes might look like.
The HTM series exists to ensure that duty of care is met at every stage of a healthcare estate’s development. At this regulatory level, I think that recognising that our duty of care is as much to the
Stuart Skinner
Stuart Skinner is Marketing manager at leading water controls manufacturer, Rada. He has 29 years’ experience working in the water controls industry for Kohler Mira, and recently re-joined Rada after leading sister company, Mira Showers’ national sales team. In his role as Marketing manager, he is focused on ensuring that, through its specialist products and services, Rada can help healthcare professionals realise their aims of improving infection control and optimising the operation of their facilities. He is also helping to lead Rada’s work ‘in unlocking new benefits for healthcare professionals’ through a new generation of digital and ‘connected’ water controls.
Green and clean, not either or While COVID-19 has sharpened the focus on infection control, it has also given us insight into the relationship between the health of people, and the health of the planet. The two aren’t mutually exclusive; in fact, they are directly linked. A joint warning came in October last year, with 22 experts convened to examine the links between biodiversity and pandemics. Dr Peter Daszak, President of EcoHealth Alliance, said: “There is no great mystery about the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. The same human activities that drive climate change and biodiversity loss also drive pandemic risk through their impacts on our environment.” It wouldn’t be a huge leap, then, if I were to suggest that limiting the environment effects of human activities could act as an infection prevention method itself. A healthier estate means a healthier planet, and in turn, population. So, when it comes to estates that improve health outcomes, green and clean don’t contradict one another – they go hand in hand. Acting on climate change today won’t lessen our ability to meet the continued challenges of COVID-19. They’re part of the same picture. By harnessing the power of digitally connected technology, and enforcing greater transparency and collaboration across the NHS and its supply chain, we can ensure that the picture is a positive one.
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