A ‘pioneering trial’ at Maidstone Hospital in Kent has demonstrated the effectiveness of UV-C ventilation against bacteria and viruses in a clinical setting, together with the technology’s ability to enable significant energy-savings. Barry Paterson, director of Midtherm UV, a West Midlands manufacturer of UV-C air sanitisation products, reports.
The benefits of UV-C will be highlighted in the upcoming NHSE/NHSI Guidelines and Standards for the Application of Ultraviolet (UVC) Devices for Air Cleaning in Occupied Healthcare Spaces. This, coupled with growing concern about the risks from poor air quality or ventilation in hospitals and other healthcare facilities, has led to a demand for UV-C solutions from NHS Trusts and other healthcare providers around the UK, particularly with the increased focus on airborne transmission of infection due to COVID-19.
Already widely used in healthcare settings in the US and some European countries, the sanitising effect of shortwavelength light in killing bacteria and inactivating viruses was discovered in 1878.
Tasked with transforming an office and staff room into a seven-bay RAP (Rapid Access Point) for incoming ambulance patients, Tim Fletcher, Mechanical project engineer at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Hospitals NHS Trust, explains: “In 2019, I was tasked with converting the office and staff room into a seven-bay assessment unit. As part of the programme we had to look at installing a ventilation system, where one did not exist, other than natural ventilation from fenestration.
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