Dr James Soothill MBBS, MD, FRCPath, a Consultant Microbiologist at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, discusses his invention and development of what he dubs ‘a cost-effective, robust, low-maintenance approach to prevent the ascent of antibiotic-resistant bacteria from drains into hospital sinks’ – the ‘so-called’ Tuba Drain.
I have been a Consultant Microbiologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital for the past 20 years; my work focuses on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of hospital infection. While I have no formal training in engineering, I'm the named inventor on three patents — including, most recently, the Tuba Drain. During my time at GOSH I have been alarmed by the growing number of patients admitted carrying highly antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and with infections by such bacteria. Now, each month, I'm noticing that the number seems to be higher than in the previous one.
The development of the Tuba Drain resulted from me looking at a window in my office door that looks onto a sink with a visible trap. This led me to think of how upwards splash could prevented by the insertion of a bent tube into the system. The Tuba Drain (TD) is a component for a sink drain that prevents resistant bacteria ascending into sinks and hence transferring to staff and patients, so has the potential to help reverse the rise in antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Despite international concern about antimicrobial resistance, efforts to control the immediate problem of rapid and increasing spread of resistance have been lacking. Ever since COVID, the term 'exponential rise' has widely been wrongly used. The true meaning is illustrated by the following story:
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