The total refurbishment of two UCV (Ultra Clean Ventilation) operating theatres at Conquest Hospital in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, saw wiring accessories from Click Scolmore’s expanding medical solutions range specified and installed.
Products from Scolmore’s Mode range of white moulded, antimicrobial wiring accessories, and the accompanying GridPro plates and modules range, were chosen. Scolmore said: “Preventing airborne infections during surgical procedures is of paramount importance for effective and economical care delivery, and patient health and wellbeing. Switch plates, such as light switches, dimmers, and sockets, have one of the highest touch rates in any environment, so are likely to hold a significant number of microbes on their surfaces. Regular cleaning is essential, but not always sufficient. Using products that inhibit bacterial and fungal organisms helps prevent the spread of superbugs.”
A number of double, unswitched Mode blue medical sockets, red outboard rocker sockets, and white outboard rocket sockets, have been installed in the walls around the two UCV theatres at Conquest Hospital to accommodate the numerous devices and appliances that need to be powered. The blue medical sockets feature laser-etched white lettering stating, ‘Medical Equipment Only’ to distinguish them from non-IPS electrical sockets.
Double supplementary equipotential bonding earth connection points were also installed. These products have recently been added to the Click Medical Solutions wiring accessories range, along with EBBs (Equipotential Bonding Busbars), which play a major role in ensuring patient and clinician safety. In accordance with the Requirements for Electrical Installations BS 7671:2018 AMD2 Section 710 (Medical Locations), and HTM 06-01, all Group 1 and 2 Medical Locations should have an EBB and associated supplementary protective equipotential bonding installed.
The white moulded Mode wiring accessories specified for this project are manufactured using Urea Formaldehyde, which has similar inherent properties to antimicrobial additives that inhibit bacterial growth. All products independently tested achieved a 99.99% kill rate across four types of bacteria – MRSA, E. Coli, Salmonella, and Klebsiella Pneumonia.
Responsible for specifying the Mode and GridPro products was Mark Sellens, Electrical project manager at electrical contracting firm, Booker & Best, who worked closely with the Trust’s Project manager, John Harratt. He said: “The Mode range was an obvious choice on a number of important levels. It is a great quality range, represents great value, and comes with a 20-year guarantee. It also scored highly from an infection control standpoint point, with its smooth profile meaning a reduced risk of it harbouring germs.
“The electricians on site were very impressed with the GridPro range used for the lighting controls. They found the yokeless design of the GridPro plates particularly great to work with. Unique to GridPro is the screw attachment feature, which means no yoke is required for any modules when using 1-4 gang plates – the modules can be simply screwed directly on to the plates. With some products requiring yokes to be purchased as separate components, this has implications when considering overall costs and labour requirements.”
