WHSCT employs over 12,500 people and provides a range of health and social care services including Acute, Mental Health and Primary Care.
With budget restrictions and the increasing demand on resources. WHSCT faced the challenge of delivering a compliant water safety strategy. The requirement under Health Technical Memorandum 04:01 to clean and descale shower heads and hoses on a quarterly basis presented a practical and logistical issue for an organisation managing a large estate. The compliance process also presented issues around management, governance, auditing, staff training, COSHH implications while requiring labour resource. Therefore, in 2018 WHSCT ran a public tender to appoint a provider for a Replacement Shower Scheme.
The technical specification required bidders to demonstrate compliance against a range of criteria including use of an antibacterial additive technology, antibacterial efficacy in accordance with ISO 22196, WRAS approval and colour coding. Bidders were also subjected to an infield performance test assessment by the Trust. Following tender evaluation, T-safe was awarded a contract to provide a replacement shower scheme over a 3-year term. Under the contract, new T-safe Hygiene Showers will be delivered to site quarterly to replace used showers thus removing the need for cleaning maintenance. Used showers and hoses are segregated onsite and sent for onward recycling as part of an effective waste management process.
The deployment of the T-safe Hygiene Shower replacement scheme has introduced a streamlined approach to delivering quarterly shower compliance. The Trust no-longer relies on traditional cleaning methods which has significantly reduced maintenance time and cost whilst eradicating any COSHH implications.
Auditing and compliance management has also been improved through colour coding that identifies missed showers on the replacement program. The inherent risk of infection associated with shower systems has been reduced resulting in improved patient safety.
