Bedside furniture designed to combat bugs

New furniture which has been designed in order to lessen the danger of hospital bugs is now available for the NHS to buy.

Following a positive response from testing in eight hospitals by patients and staff, four designs will be put on sale.

The furniture was made as part of the Design Bugs Out project, which is a collaboration between the Department of Health and the Design Council. 

The designs consist of a beside cabinet, patient chair, overbed table and a commode. The furniture was tested by an independent organisation to assess how easy it was to clean compared to current hospital designs.

The results of the tests have been published in a document called Design Bugs Out - a product evaluation report. 

The testing showed 91% of testers thought the patient chair was safe, clean and supportive, 91% liked the new overbed table design, 90% approved of the commode and 77 believed the cabinet was sturdy and well-designed. 

Health Minister Simon Burns said: "These four innovative and user friendly furniture designs – now available for hospitals to buy – provide additional ways to help to reduce and eliminate healthcare acquired infections."

"They will make it easier for staff to keep wards cleaner and help combat the spread of infections. This means keeping patients healthier, as well as saving the NHS money in the long term." 

Share this page