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UV-C light weapon in battle against HAIs

The Carillion Health cleaning team at the Royal London Hospital is piloting ‘an innovative infection control solution’ via a six-week trial featuring a UV-C light ‘triple tower technology system’ reportedly never before used in the UK.

Carillion’s Cleaning Centre of Excellence’s ‘extensive research and investigation’ into using UV-C disinfection to control healthcare-associate infections (HAIs) identified a new system that the company says ‘overcomes the shortcomings’ of existing UV-C disinfectors. Carillion is working with the US manufacturer, Surfacide, to trial its automatic, non-touch UV-C room disinfection system in the UK. The technology allows all areas of the patient environment to be disinfected, ‘overcoming obstacles such as shadows and distance inherent with single-emitter UV-C systems’.

Carillion said: “Proven to control multiple drug-resistant organisms including C. difficile, MRSA, VRE, CRE, and Acinetobacter, the system sees three articulating UV-C towers placed in a patient room equipped with laser validation to ensure that the area is completely covered during a 30-minute disinfection process. Evidence from the US demonstrates that this process significantly reduces HAI risk.”

During the trial Carillion will capture, collate, and analyse data based on infection log reductions, time per application, and exposure times needed for efficacy, before determining the technology’s effectiveness with a view to a wider ‘roll-out’ across its contracts.

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