The healthcare sector is one of the toughest environments for any specifier. For washroom provision alone, the combined requirements of ensuring infection control, hot water safety, and optimised hygiene, while also providing ease of use and maintenance, can prove challenging. Chris Tranter, product manager at Bristan, lifts the lid on the latest technologies, and how they make lighter work of washroom safety in the healthcare sector.
The importance of washroom safety is regularly highlighted by announcements and press coverage concerning MRSA, Legionella and Pseudomonas outbreaks in hospitals, schools, and communities. As we all know, 2012 saw a public outcry following the tragic death of three young infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Belfast’s Royal Jubilee Maternity Hospital (RJMH) from Pseudomonas aeruginosarelated infection, apparently as a result of Pseudomonas bacteria found in five handwashbasins,1 while in January 2014, three schools in the UK were temporarily closed due to alarmingly high levels of Legionella bacteria.2,3,4
In addition, despite a significant reduction in MRSA cases, the bacterial infection still remains very much a concern. In 2006, some MRSA outbreaks in UK hospitals were attributed to poor hand hygiene, and in 2012 MRSA was detected in 12 babies at a special care baby unit at the Rosie Hospital in Cambridge.5 Many such cases have been attributed to poor hygiene, whereby infrequent and inadequate handwashing by healthcare professionals and patients alike before eating, after using the toilet, and when moving around, is a primary cause of contamination.
Variable handwashing practice
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