How Surfacide’s multiple UVC emitters decreased the number of reported infections in the ward with 43%
Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital in Manchester, England, achieved significant reductions in infections following a successful trial, and subsequent implementation of Surfacide’s revolutionary UV-C disinfection technology.
The Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital is one of the largest and busiest hospitals in the UK, with over 40,000 admissions a year and around 48,000 attendances in the emergency department. The hospital provides 25 highly specialist services, employing 900 nurses and 167 consultants.
Infection control in a hospital of this size can present challenges. In particular, keeping infection rates low in a children’s hospital can be limited by the ability to control children’s hygiene.
Julie Jolly leads exploration of UV- C disinfection
Julie Jolly, RMCH Unit Service Improvement and Transformation Lead, led the effort to introduce Surfacide.
Julie was asked to explore working partnerships with other hospitals to share ideas about good clinical practices and the use of innovative technologies in medical environments. During a visit to a hospital in San Francisco, CA, US of a similar size and nature to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, an innovation that stood out for her was a multi-emitter, mobile UV-C system. This is when she was introduced to UV-C disinfection and its huge potential in a hospital setting.
While discussing opportunities for improvement at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, infection control was identified as a priority for the oncology department. This is because the condition of the children makes them some of the most vulnerable patients in the hospital. Julie and her team accepted the challenge to find improvements that would make the hospital environment a safer place for these vulnerable patients.
While trying other solutions to reduce infection rates in the unit, Julie explored UV-C disinfection options available in the UK. Only a few of the available UV-C systems in the UK met Julie and her team’s requirements, with Surfacide chosen as the most suitable. It was subsequently incorporated into a pilot study at the hospital.
Pilot study finds 43% reduction in infections
Nurses in the ward ran the pilot, using Surfacide UV-C equipment. It followed the terminal cleaning process after each patient discharge.
Surfacide works by placing anywhere from one to five UV-C emitters in a room. Then, using state-of-the-art laser mapping, all high-touch surfaces within the room are disinfected. Surfacide’s multiple emitters address common single-emitter challenges like shadows and distance.
Depending on the size of the room, the process can be completed in as little as five minutes, with a cloud-based portal providing real-time reporting and analytics that track the efficiency and effectiveness of the process.
Data from nine months of the pilot study using UV-C machines found a 43% decrease in the number of reported infections in the ward where UV-C disinfection had taken place.
Previous infection rate history indicated an expectation of five to six hospital-acquired infections a year. However, since introducing UV-C cleaning and disinfection, this dropped to only one or two a year. Staff, patients, and parents reported feeling safer, reflecting positively on the positive impact of the Surfacide UV-C machines.
Surfacide reduced infection rates and the need for infection control
Following further research of pre and post UV-C disinfection swab samples at the hospital, bacteria and germs were found in unexpected places, which were not routinely cleaned.
According to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital there was an 86% decrease in the bacteria contaminant counts after using Surfacide in comparison to just 63% with traditional cleaning methods. When speaking about vaporization/fogging, Julie Jolly said, “We haven’t had to use that device for nearly 2 years since we introduced the [Surfacide] UV-C. That’s also had a massive cost (reduction) impact on the hospital.”
“Nobody goes to work purposely to harm any patient they have but we all have it in us to be able to look outside the box at new things and new ways of doing things. That’s what the staff at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital have done” said Jolly.
It’s worth noting that the study was reduced from 12 months to 9 months as the results were so significant and convincing.
Leaders in healthcare technology
Surfacide is used in over 700 hospitals, hotels and large institutions worldwide.
To learn more email europe@surfacide.eu or call +31 85 004 43 19
References
Jolly, Julie.(2016). A study into the use of Surfacide UV-C Emitters in reducing hospital acquired infection rates. Central Manchester University Hospitals.
