Combating Hospital Bugs with Silver

A leading microbiologist is calling on the Government to take more drastic action to combat hospital bugs following the damning report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee into healthcare associated
infections. Dr Richard Hastings, a microbiologist for BioCote, says that by adopting antimicrobial silver technology into hospital equipment and furniture at the manufacturing stage, it can help to reduce bacteria in the hospital environment by up to 99%.

“Research with the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust has proven that this reduces the risk of cross contamination and consequently the risks of patients being infected with superbugs like MRSA, E.Coli and Salmonella,” said Dr Hastings. The environmental trial, conducted by the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with Biocote, compared two out-patient wards, one containing furniture and equipment incorporating silver and the other with untreated items.

“The results clearly show that the out-patient ward containing the products incorporating antimicrobial silver technology harboured 95.6% less bacteria in the environment than the ward with untreated, comparable products,” continued Dr Hastings. “This should be just one part of an overall strategy that the Government should introduce to make hospital environments more hygienic and safer for patients.”