Excellence in infection control stems from the culmination of effective hygiene measures implemented throughout the patient journey.
Products such as cubicle curtains or patient case notepaper are items that are usually touched once the member of staff has already washed his or her hands. The surfaces of these may be overlooked – they can potentially contaminate clean hands immediately before a patient is touched.
Products that are manufactured with infection control in mind by using BioCote silver antimicrobial technology should be considered as part of an effective infection control practice. Products protected by BioCote technology continually inhibit the growth of microbes, and these products should be used as a supplementary infection control measure, adding to what is achieved through regular cleaning procedures and good hand hygiene. BioCote has partnership arrangements with over 40 companies which manufacture products for the NHS, and complete, specially protected environments can be specified.
Birmingham Heartlands NHS Trust has created an entire unit at Lincoln House protected with BioCote technology. It is impossible to clean surfaces manually all the time – BioCote protection means that bacteria on surfaces will be kept to a minimum in between cleans.
The silver ion technology that is used by BioCote is effective for the useful life of the product on which it is used. Accelerated life cycle tests on a Sidhil hospital bed show efficacy after 25 years. BioCote technology is up to 99.9% effective against both gram positive and gram negative microbes including bacteria such as MRSA and C.difficle.
For more information on BioCote technology and the product ranges that incorporate this technology, visit www.biocote.com or call 01902 824450 and request a product brochure.
