Keeping testing centres clean throughout the coronavirus pandemic has been at the top of the agenda to ensure the support of staff and patient safety. During this time, many businesses and practices have looked at other techniques and ways to reduce the transmission of Covid-19 and other seasonal colds, flu, and other illnesses.
One of the leading Covid-19 testing providers, Dam Group, does Covid-19 testing, general healthcare testing, and blood testing. The Dam Group currently has 48 testing sites across the UK and has been in operation for one year.
Bryan Adekoya, Head of procurement for Dam Group, explains more about what they were looking for to increase safety:
“As a Covid-19 testing centre, we are at very high risk of daily exposure from working with the virus and wanted to reduce the risk of transmission. We wanted to ensure the safety of our staff and patients during this time.”
“Due to the nature of the business, we run a high risk of having a Covid-19 outbreak. So, we implemented extra cleaning and introduced regulations for all who enter the premises, such as wearing a face mask and sanitising hands.”
“After extra cleaning was implemented, we looked into HEPA filters and decided to fit a HEPA filtration ventilation in all lab rooms. We then came across Airdri’s range of air sanitisers and decided to run a live trial in our Rodney Street practice.”
SteraSpace units were installed in a practice waiting room, and a live trial was conducted. ALS Laboratories carried out independent testing; ALS are a respected analytical testing laboratory based in Rotham, UK.
Air plate samples were taken as a baseline before the unit was installed, and then subsequent test samples were taken from the same positions 14 days after the SteraSpace had been installed.
The sanitiser unit was running continuously throughout this time to assess the potential impact this may have on the microbial content of the air. This assessment is based on reducing colony-forming units settling plates, which were set out for 120 minutes at key testing points.
The results
The live trial had been successful and had shown a reduction of the initial bacteria level by 89.23% after 14 days of continuous usage within the practice waiting room.
Head of procurement for the Dam Group, Byran Adekoya, continued:
“Our biggest concern as a Covid-19 testing centre is an outbreak. After the live trial was successful, showing a near 90% reduction in bacteria, we installed more SteraSpace’s within the practice. This has given the staff more confidence and has made the staff all very happy with the extra precautions we have taken.”
“The SteraSpace is very practical and easy to use. We have had no trouble with it. It’s non-intrusive, and once you fit it onto the wall, you forget it is even there.”
Find out more about our range of SteraSpace sanitisers here.