When patients sit in waiting rooms the chairs are not covered nor wiped between each patient, yet the moment they sit on a couch we use couch roll. Couch roll is bulky and a waste that could be reduced / avoided.
Is there a consensus of when its use is appropriate and when not, and if it is not used, what is the expectation of how frequently the couch should be cleaned. Are there any national guidelines?
We have just started a couch roll collaboration so would be keen to hear peoples thoughts. I haven't yet found a national guidelines and practice seems to vary.
We've just launched a couch roll reduction communications campaign at our acute Trust. I'm not aware there are any national guidelines, but we spoke to Trusts which have already carried out their own couch roll reductions such as MFT. We took the proposal to our Infection Prevention Board for support as these are the main concerns raised.
We're discouraging it where it's used used to line couches, as staff should be disinfecting between patients anyway but it is still needed in some areas, for example as a privacy covering.
We are only a month or so in but happy to discuss our experience if that would be helpful.
Our infection prevention lead suggested getting rid of it since, as you say, the couches are disinfected in between
I have been doing some work on sustainability in primary care and came across this
Thanks everyone. We are okay with the lets use it for gooey stuff and not for non gooey stuff, but we are struggling with it being used for 'dignity' (to cover people), to wipe off ultrasound gel as paper towels aren't big enough, to stop shoes marking the couches, the mortuary use it for reconstruction even. Gone down a rabbit hole!
Following with interest - something I'd like to change in my GP surgery
Thanks Clare, lovely to meet you on Tuesday. We have been running this project at UHsussex for almost a year. I agree with the cognitive dissonance aspects of this. Patients routinely sit in waiting rooms, and as you say, we don't wipe down the waiting room chairs in between every patient use. So why does that change when they lie on an examination couch. If the patient is fully clothed, then no need for couch roll, and no need for a couch wipe down. Our patients have reported that the couch can be cold and 'sticky' (I presume after cleaning with a wipe) to lie on with bare skin. I am comfortable that couches can be cleaned at the start and end of a clinic session, or if soiled - and not in between every patient. We have advised that a smaller piece of paper roll can be used for the exposed skin. Our radiology colleagues have also pointed out that patients lying on machinery with exposed skin find the roll favourable and more comfortable. Our sexual health clinics have been trialling use of an 'inco' style pad when undertaking intimate examinations and sampling. We haven't gone for 100% removal, and instead a reduction. One of our OPDs achieved a 50% reduction - if mirrored across UHsussex we would save £50K a year and 174 trees! Let alone all the waste reduction. I also think used paper roll can go in the recycling bin, if body fluid free. Our sexual health colleagues dispose of the pads into offensive waste, if soiled. It would be great if the Infection Prevention Society could publish some guidance, say in conjunction with the Royal Colleges of Nursing - or other applicable national bodies. I am happy to share our Trust poster on couch roll reduction and the poster I took to Conference last year. Anyone can contact me at martin.still1@nhs.net. Thanks again! 🙂
Sounds great! I would love to hear more about your campaign. We would like to launch it at our Trust: insights, goods tips as well as used and approved material are always welcome!
Maybe we could schedule a joint meeting if others are interested?
hi Caroline ! did you manage to implement in areas like maternity as well ?
Perrine Dhaisne sounds good, it's always helpful to know what others are doing!
sangeetha - we launched the comms across all areas and targeted staff/departments who had previously ordered couch roll. We've also 'masked' couch roll on our finance system, but we have maintained access for some areas which requested it for specific purposes. This included podiatry, and urology. Radiology and maternity requested continued access for ultrasounds.
We did this recently so don't have any data yet.
Perrine Dhaisne I would be happy to join any meetings and share where we are with our project - if that would help? 🙂 martin.still1@nhs.net