Tandrup, the manufacturer of the T-Safe filter shower, says it is ‘set to introduce further innovation to the realm of shower head and hose compliance in the healthcare sector’, with the launch of T-Safe Shower Management.
The ‘innovative service solution’ will, the company explains, combine the ‘next generation’ T-Safe CL Hygiene Shower, with a ‘collection, clean, and return’ service delivered via Water Environmental Treatment (W.E.T).
Tandrup said: “The CL Hygiene Shower features Biomaster antimicrobial silver additive technology and colour coding in a robust, modern design that helps improve patient safety and infection control between cyclical PPM.”
Under the scheme, T-Safe shower heads and hoses are deployed to site, then collected and returned to the W.E.T custom-built re-processing facility in Tamworth quarterly. Here, used showers and hoses will be subject to a six-stage cleaning process developed under a European-funded ‘Biofilm’ research project. On completion, cleaned, disinfected, dried, and re-bagged shower heads and hoses are then returned to site as new, ‘as opposed to be sent to landfill or for recycling’.
Tandrup says the HTM 04-01 requirement for quarterly shower head and hose cleaning and disinfection ‘has long provided healthcare estates teams with a significant maintenance burden and compliance challenge’, adding: “The process of effectively maintaining large numbers of showers on such a regular basis has proven time-consuming, costly, and difficult to achieve. Consequently, many NHS organisations have sought to introduce colour-coded replacement shower schemes, which are viewed as a more convenient, lower-cost solution to traditional cleaning methods.” Under such schemes, used showers are replaced each quarter with new ones, while colour coding provides a visual aid – to confirm that exchange has taken place, and compliance has been achieved. Used showers can be separated into plastics waste on site, or collected by the service provider for onward recycling. Tandrup said: “The advent of replacement showers – including that provided by T-Safe – has offered many NHS organisations a standardised, simplified approach that has helped improve compliance management and reduced maintenance costs.
“However, the true cost of such schemes, in particular to the environment, is often not understood or factored in. For example, although recycling is preferred to landfill, it is not a zero carbon zero waste exercise, due to the processes involved.”
In one recent case, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust chose to introduce T-Safe Shower Management following a public tender which would see 80% less showers and hoses manufactured and recycled over a three-year period with zero waste. The contract will operate on a turnkey basis, with stocks of T-Safe shower heads and hoses provided upfront with no capital outlay. The costs will be spread over the term, delivering an estimated 15% net overall cost saving.
Tandrup said: “T-Safe Shower Management seeks to offer compliance and sustainability- conscious Estates teams further choice when it comes to selecting an appropriate showerhead and hose maintenance strategy – one that will result in further cost savings and a further reduction in environmental impact.”
