COVER STORY
More than a wipes manufacturer
Medipal provides a new learning unit with CPD accreditation focusing on infection prevention and control.
It is fair to say that over time, Medipal has gone from strength to strength. From the head office and manufacturing site in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, Medipal provides wipes to more than 70 countries across the world. A move for the Middle East and Asia Pacific team to larger offices in Dubai, and winning several major wipes contracts in the UK, Ireland, Europe and the Middle East are just some examples that show how Pal International - the parent company of Medipal - has grown to become a leading supplier of single-use, hygiene and infection control products around the world. The company’s mission is to make work places and care environments more hygienic and safer places to be. Medipal says that comes from not only being a science-led, UK manufacturer providing high quality single use hygiene and infection control products, but by providing healthcare sectors across
the world with the education and support they require to ensure everyone has access to infection prevention education. The company believes it is the responsibility of everyone within any setting where healthcare is delivered.
As a year of 70th birthday celebrations for the National Health Service continue across the country, there have been many reviews of the changes that have taken place since it began in 1948.
Nursing practice during the early period placed enormous emphasis on cleanliness and hygiene. It is argued that this was linked to sanitarianism which influenced nursing practice before its replacement by germ theory in the late 19th and early 20th century. Probationer nurses learnt their skills in managing infection risks to themselves and their patients in a disciplined and safe way. This was achieved through the exercise
of strict routines and a hierarchy of tasks that provided a graduated exposure to the patient and infection risks.1
Infection prevention and control is something that has remained at the forefront of the NHS. Today the infections may be different, while some have evolved, others have travelled and developed due to the globalised world we now live in. Across Europe more than 4.1 million people are affected by HCAIs every year, resulting in 37,000 deaths and direct costs of approximately €7 billion.2, 3
Across Europe more than 4.1 million people are affected by HCAIs every year, resulting in 37,000 deaths and direct costs of approximately €7 billion.
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In England alone, approximately 300,000 people per year are affected by a healthcare- associated infection (HCAI) which can be preventable. These infections are estimated to cost the NHS over £1 bn a year.4 Healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) are defined as infections acquired in hospital or healthcare service units that first appear 48 hours or more after admission, or within 30 days after discharge following inpatient care.5 The role that healthcare professionals have in the prevention of HCAIs is paramount to the development of future medicine. There can be huge developments in the treatments and the science behind the pioneering medical procedures, but if HCAIs put the patients’ recovery process at risk, then the boundaries of medicine are limited.
The need for accessible training
Currently there is no compulsory training within infection prevention for cleaning staff in hospitals. With time and budgets becoming ever tighter, there are few
SEPTEMBER 2018
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