The Centre hospitalier de Rambouillet, in France’s Parisian region, is the country’s first hospital to install antimicrobial copper touch surfaces to fight pathogens and reduce the risk of healthcare-associated infections.
Bed rails, trolleys, taps, handrails, door handles, and push plates made of copper and copper alloys feature in the intensive care and paediatric units. Antimicrobial copper touch surfaces are proven, the Copper Development Association says, to be capable of continuously eliminating bacteria, viruses, and fungi – including MRSA, C. difficile and Influenza A – ‘24/7’, from clinical environments. Rambouillet’s director, Jean-Pierre Richard, says: “Based on 15 years of scientific research in laboratories and hospitals that demonstrates copper’s antimicrobial properties, we equipped our intensive care and paediatric units accordingly. Our proactive risk prevention policy is based on using innovative materials that will have no impact on the way medical staff work.” Dr Patrick Pina, head of Rambouillet Hospital’s hygiene department, will assess the impact of the infection prevention measure on the rate of HCAIs in the hospital, with the data generated used to inform the French Ministry of Health’s evaluation of adoption of antimicrobial copper surfaces in healthcare.
