Medical Air Technology | Tel: +44 (0)844 871 2100
Clean Air Products
Medical Air Technology offers a range of products designed to provide critical ventilation in sensitive areas. Our hero product is the ECO-flow™ ultraclean ventilation system, in use in hospitals throughout the UK. The ECO-flow™ canopy is available in screened and screenless options and in three standard sizes – 2.8m, 3.2m and 3.5m.
Ultraclean Ventilation
An open wound can present the ideal place for germs to settle and breed, causing infection. The ECO-flow™ ultraclean ventilation (UCV) system is a proven and effective way to clean the air in operating theatres, supporting good working practices and theatre design and dramatically reducing the risks of surgical site infection (SSI).
The Benefits of Upgrading to Ultraclean
We know that UCV works. HTM 03-01 confirms that the link between surgical site infection and theatre air quality is well established: “…ultra-clean ventilation systems (which are designed to provide a zone around the patient that is effectively free of bacteria-carrying airborne particles while the operation is in progress) have been shown to significantly reduce surgical site infection in patients undergoing large joint replacement surgery.”
Investment versus Savings
NICE has reported that SSI represents significant costs to the NHS, ranging from £2,100 to £10,500 per infection, depending on the nature of the surgery.
Expert opinion suggests that costs can be as high as £20,000 per surgical site infection for complex surgery and up to £14,000 for more general surgery. It has been estimated that the total cost to the NHS is around £700m a year. Treatment of patients with SSI also reduces the capacity to treat other patients, creating a further inefficiency.
From these figures, it’s clear that the costs of revisionary surgery to treat SSI can far exceed the cost of the original surgery, as well as causing untold stress for patients and possible future health concerns.
On this basis alone, a UCV canopy more than pays for itself, with purchase and running costs offset against the money saved by lower post-operative SSI rates, less revisionary surgery and shorter hospital stays.
A Portfolio of Clean Air Products
The ECO-flow™ UCV canopy is just one of the clean air products we offer. Our lay-up cabinet <link to page> and mobile laminar flow solutions create a safe environment for the laying-up of surgical instruments and can be used in all types of operating rooms and surgical preparation rooms.
We also offer a full range of specialist operating theatre equipment supplied by trusted, market-leading partners. This includes:
“We are very happy with the work carried out by Medical Air Technology. Throughout the project, we appreciated the benefits of working with a company with such a thorough understanding of surgical site infection and a portfolio of products designed to address it.”
Andrew Jones: Director of Hospital Services, Fairfield Independent Hospital
The Evolution of Surgical Site Infection
Until the middle of the 19th century, when Joseph Lister pioneered infection control by introducing antiseptic surgery, many patients survived surgery only to die from postoperative infection – or ‘ward fever’ as it was then known.
Lister experimented with hand washing, sterilising instruments, spraying carbolic in the theatre while operating, and covering wounds with dressings soaked with carbolic acid, and infection rates fell dramatically.
Fast forward 150 or so years, and clean air equipment like the ECO-flow™ UCV canopy is playing an important role in controlling SSI and improving patient care.
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