A key learning to come out of the coronavirus pandemic is that, heading into the future, hospital and healthcare environments will need to be much more versatile and adaptable in order to respond more quickly to emergency situations.
Scientists warned for years that a pandemic was likely, and yet when it arrived, even the most advanced healthcare systems in the world found themselves scrambling to cope with increased demand and tighter infection control procedures. Science also tells us that this pandemic is unlikely to be the last – an uncomfortable truth, but one we can’t afford to ignore.
So what will this future versatility look like?
Many experts are predicting that the entire face of healthcare is set to change over the coming decades, with a rapid acceleration of remote services including telemedicine and digital triage.
It’s very possible that key healthcare specializations – for example oncology and orthopaedic surgery – may be centralized away from acute facilities to safeguard against potential disruption caused by infectious disease outbreaks.
For those acute facilities, it’s vital to learn lessons from the past 12 months and ensure that if (or when) another pandemic occurs, the required infection control infrastructure is already in place.
Of course, this will have benefits for everyday healthcare, too. Healthcare acquired infections (HAIs) are a major cause of mortality, costing the Canadian taxpayer around a billion dollars each year. If Covid-19 has a silver lining it’s that common barriers to change have been cleared away almost overnight. As a result, we’ve seen a decade of progress on infection control crammed into just one year – and these reinforced protocols are sure to have an impact on the spread of other infections, including superbugs like C.diff and MRSA.
When the pandemic took hold in hospitals and care homes, the two main challenges were to increase capacity, fast, and to prevent cross-infection through effective isolation. This proved the most difficult in high-risk areas of the hospital, such as the ER and ICU, where the sheer volume of patients and intensity of need makes high-level infection control both essential and challenging at the same time.
Going forward, it’s vital that these and other departments have patient privacy solutions that meet their needs on effectiveness, infection control and ease of use – and that’s where we really see our CleanScreen product fitting in.
What is CleanScreen?
CleanScreen is a unique, solid surface patient privacy divider suitable for use in hospitals, care homes, clinics and many other medical settings. It’s a fully modular system of interconnected panels made from moulded polyethylene with no seams or joins where germs can hide. CleanScreen’s innovative hinge system means there are just two contact points between each panel – this facilitates supreme ease of cleaning using your existing hard surface disinfectant, and also means the system can be dismantled for terminal disinfection.
You can add or remove panels from the CleanScreen system to create a divider that fits any space or purpose, from isolating individual patient bays to dividing open plan areas. The system is available in both wall-mounted and mobile iterations, delivering optimal versatility when it’s needed most – it’s ideal for creating temporary isolation bays, or for patient overflow at peak times.
CleanScreen is taller than conventional hospital screens, and extends to just 10cm above the floor for superior coverage. The unique hinge system means that there are no gaps between the panels even when the screen is folded at an acute angle. And because it’s made from a solid material, CleanScreen delivers improved privacy than fabric screens – all of which adds up to a more comfortable and safe experience for the patient.
CleanScreen eliminates the need to remove or replace hospital curtains between patients which makes it ideal for high throughput departments, saving vital time, maximising bed occupancy, banishing laundry and reducing waste to landfill. All this, without compromising on infection control – simply wipe the panels down with your existing surface disinfectant. There’s also an anti-microbial option for additional peace of mind – CleanScreen’s anti-bac blue panels are infused with silver ion compounds that offer baseline protection even in the unlikely event that the screen gets scratched, worn or damaged over time.
We would love to discuss how CleanScreen might support your healthcare facility’s infection control strategy as we move towards a post-pandemic future. To arrange a virtual consultation, get in touch with Dan Lawrenson by emailing [email protected].
