Prototypes of new designs of 11 items of hospital furniture and equipment, ranging from a “21st Century” commode to an “intelligent mattress” that changes colour on becoming “compromised by body fluids”,
were showcased recently at the Design Council in London in the latest stage of the Department of Health and NHS PASA’s “Design Bugs Out” initiative, which aims to significantly reduce infection spread by making such items easier to clean. Assuming an enthusiastic response during a national tour of selected hospitals and healthcare exhibitions, it is hoped many of the products could be on sale later this year. Jonathan Baillie reports.
The special showcase event was attended not only by representatives from the design consultancies and equipment manufacturers that had collaborated to develop the winning designs for larger furniture items in a competition run by the Design Council on behalf of the Department of Health (DH) and the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (NHS PASA), but also by clinicians, the Department of Health’s inspector of microbiology and infection control Professor Brian Duerden, and senior nursing personnel, as well as luminaries from the design world, a number of whom have either advised on the project, or contributed to evaluating the best concepts and ideas. The Design Bugs Out project, part of the Department of Health-funded NHS PASA HCAI (healthcare-associated infection) Technology Innovation programme, was launched early last year. Enlisted were the experience and expertise both of designers and manufacturers, and of the nursing, clinical, estates and facilities, and cleaning staff who encounter such items during their day-to-day work, in redesigning some of the most widely used hospital items and furniture to reduce their bacteria-harbouring propensity and simplify cleaning them. Before the Design Council, which was appointed by the DH and NHS PASA last September to deliver and co-ordinate the project, launched the national competition that challenged designers and manufacturers to re-design large items like porter’s chairs and bedside cabinets in line with the project’s goals, the leading design body established an Expert Reference Group. This was made up of leading figures and experts from the DH, NHS and industry, all with many years’ experience in fighting HCAIs.
Gauging patient and staff views
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