Controlling infection

In the ongoing debate about Hospital Acquired Infections much has been made of the number of cleaners retained by the NHS and the conflicting view of this amount (falling? or in correct proportion to the size of the estate?), as well as the percentage of that number who are employed by outside contractors.

On the same subject, ideas have also been put forward to empower matrons with the authority to close wards if they are judged by them to be insufficiently clean.

The question is, are more cleaners really needed, or does it all boil down to the effectiveness, productivity and the method employed by the individual cleaner? If we accept that the number of hospital cleaners is not going to increase substantially any time soon, then it is not only the standard of cleaning, but also its effectiveness that needs to be addressed if any real progress is to be made in the reduction of the number of cases of HAI.

With many of the common strains of infection now being resistant to chemicals, another, more efficient method of destroying them needs to be deployed.

If chemical impregnated wipes are proving ineffective against the so-called ‘superbugs’, it will not really make much difference then if more cleaners are employed or not. Another consideration is that chemical wipes may or may not be able to effectively clean and sanitise every surface in a ward, washroom or kitchen where bacteria may harbour and grow. Cleaning along pipes and beneath washbasins can only be effective, first, if the cleaner has time to do it, and second, whether or not the wipe in their hand can actually reach everywhere.

A tested and proven system

Laboratory evaluations using steam sanitising machines from have established the rapid destruction of hospital infection strains, including the antibiotic resistant superbugs 'MRSA' and 'VRE', in less than 2 seconds. Further trials have been carried out on hospital training wards and repeated on patient inhabited geriatric wards over a three month period. Despite the adverse conditions, 80-90% microbial kill efficiency was achieved when measured at 30 minutes after steam sanitising.

Other, more recent tests have been carried out using super heated steam cleaning equipment against Norwalk virus. Norwalk is a small, round enterovirus causing human gastroenteritis with diarrhoea and vomiting.
There is no specific antiviral treatment available. The mode of transmission is the faecal-oral route and it is also contracted by exposure to infected water, food, or by particles suspended in the air, and contaminated surfaces. Transmission in institutions such as hospitals is rapid and causes epidemics.

Susceptibility by Norwalk to disinfectants includes 1 per cent hypochlorite and 2 per cent gluteraldehyde, but exposure to these agents requires at least 30 minutes, which is not very practical in the hospital environment where faecal accidents occur and which can also induce an additional chemical hazard.

The virus survives a heat exposure of 60 C for 30 minutes, but is killed by steam. The use of superheated steam (greater than 100 C) is particularly effective as it gives up its latent heat directly by condensation onto the contact surface.

Fast and effective sanitising

The reason super heated steam sanitising is so effective is simply that the system relies not upon chemicals to do the job, but instead upon the physical action of steam heated to between 150 to 180 degrees C to destroy the water-based biome that the bacteria must inhabit to survive and grow.
Tests have shown an effective kill by steam sanitising machines of Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria (including MRSA and spores) and Candida spores in–vitro and additionally in the hospital environment.
Nothing less than the complete physical destruction of the bacteria can be an effective remedy to the disastrous situation that now prevails within the Healthcare environment.

Beyond doubt, steam sanitising helps prevent cross infection in hospitals, doctor’s surgeries, nursing homes and children's nurseries, and is also of vital importance in hospital food preparation and service areas.
For this reason many hospitals are now using super heated steam cleaning machines to sanitise patient trolleys, wheelchairs, bedside curtains (try using a chemical wipe to clean those!) and for use in A&E areas.

Steam penetrates where a chemical impregnated wipe cannot, so that equipment to be sanitised does not need to be dismantled, nor even the curtains taken down, meaning beds may be returned to full use in the fastest time possible.

The Healthcare Range

In response, NIMBUS steam cleaners have assembled a unique collection of specially selected machines to provide a high performance, practical and cost-effective solution to satisfy the high demands of every cleaning task imaginable within the Healthcare sector.

The market-proven NIMBUS 1300, together with the NIMBUS 23 machine are steam-only stainless steel bodied machines that offer a budget priced yet robust steam cleaning application wherever it is most needed.

The NIMBUS 2000 housekeeping model is the ideal solutions to routine ward cleaning, combining efficient steam cleaning with a built-in vacuum. These machines may be used not only on beds, mattresses, pillows, and bedside curtains, but specifically where patients with respiratory problems are located.  And because the dust is safely retained in the water compartment, emptying of these machines also becomes completely non-hazardous.

For more information and a completely free trial with no obligation call