Seating in healthcare is commonly utilized in many different environments and must be multipurpose. Because of this they are used multiple times by numerous users. Overtime this can result in fabrics and furniture becoming dirty and harbouring potentially dangerous bacteria.
The solution? Titan Healthcare seating is the world’s first ever easy to clean fully anti-bacterial healthcare chair clinically and scientifically proven to kill 99.9% of all known bacteria and fungal diseases on touch.
A recent study by the London School of Hygiene and Queen Mary, University of London , showed that faecal bacteria can survive on hands and surfaces for hours at a time, especially in warmer temperatures, and is easily transferred by touch to everything from door handles to food. Every year, more than 2,000 deaths are attributed to diseases such as C.Diff, E.coli and MRSA in UK healthcare facilities, and many more cases of people contracting the disease whilst in care.
The chair is one of the most handled pieces of furniture in healthcare, specifically in waiting rooms and at the bedside. This prompted Bristol-based furniture specialists, Titan Healthcare Furniture, to develop their solution.
What singles the chair out is that it has been specifically designed with stakeholders from the UK NHS to meet the demands of their facilities. The chair is easy to clean and has no areas for dirt or bacteria to gather, it is also quick to clean thoroughly, assisting in infection control. The antibacterial property has been integrated throughout to make it 100% effective, even if it is damaged or broken. It works by mixing a silver additive with the plastic during the manufacturing process. Silver is well documented as having antimicrobial properties and is applied in a number of medical situations. When the chair is in use, the plastic releases silver ions which are toxic to bacteria but harmless to humans, therefore destroying more than 99.9% of any bacteria that comes into contact with the surface of the chair, including MRSA and E-Coli. The chair is also capable of supporting up to 25 stone in weight – as specified by the NHS health and safety standards.
Alex Worswick, a designer at Titan Healthcare Furniture, said: “There is nothing more important than feeling safe when you are at your mot vulnerable, and this is especially true for patients and people visiting healthcare facilities in the UK”
“As a furniture manufacturer, we had developed a number of chairs focused on creating better posture and increased safety and hygiene. When we looked into the possibility of creating an antibacterial chair, we fully expected to find it had already been done.
“So we were surprised to see that it hadn’t and, that it had not been created at all in any sector.” It was at this point that the Titan team were prepared to find that the creation of a 100% antibacterial chair was not possible but one of their young product developers discovered an application that worked and performed under the strictest independent scientific conditions.
The chairs have a ten year structural antibacterial guarantee and cost £59.99 depending on numbers ordered. Notes to Editors
Titan has been supplying furniture to the schools market for five years, and last year delivered its products into more than 1000 schools. With the launch of Titan Healthcare the company is gearing up for its busiest year ever, selling into overseas markets as well as in the UK.
All of Titan’s chairs are sold with a 10-year warranty. The 10-year antibacterial guarantee for Titan+ chairs is a further guarantee. Titan has also been at the forefront of efforts to drive further improvements in furniture since rising incidents of back pain among teenagers was highlighted in Parliament in 2006. Its chairs all confirm with EN1729 parts 1 and 2, a European standard that was brought in that year.