Design Bugs Out is an exciting new challenge from the Department of Health, NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency and the Design Council.
Our challenge to the UK’s design and manufacturing community is to design and prototype new furniture, equipment or services for hospital wards to help reduce Healthcare Associated Infections...
…and we’re offering £25,000 to help cover research and design.
We’ve asked designers to join forces with manufacturers, service providers or specialist contractors, to share resources and expertise. Together, they will prototype solutions that will help healthcare staff to manage the hospital environment and improve infection prevention and control.
A panel of judges have considered submissions (which included credentials, case-studies and a written 800 word Statement of Intent) and will announce a shortlist of five teams who will each receive £25,000 (inclusive of VAT) to cover research and design.
In April 2009 prototypes by the five teams will be showcased nationally at seven NHS showcase hospitals around the country.
Deadline for entries was 10 October 2008
'There’s a good way of looking at this project. It’s probably the most important thing you can do this year, or maybe in your entire career, is to tackle as a designer this issue or issues of this type. This is people’s lives we’re talking about here. It’s not about how pretty the cruet is or what shape the damn car is, it’s about life and it’s about saving lives. So, I think that’s the right agenda. In my book, design is making life better for people. So lets do it'
Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAIs) can affect both patients and healthcare workers. Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) are well known HCAIs, often inaccurately referred to by the media as ‘superbugs’. A range of measures is needed to tackle HCAIs effectively; though not all can always be prevented.
HCAIs may be resistant to antibiotics, making them difficult to treat, and can complicate illnesses, cause distress, and in some cases may even lead to death.
The Department of Health has a wide-ranging programme in place to reduce the number of HCAIs to the avoidable minimum and much success has already been reported. The Design Bugs Out challenge complements the Department’s other programmes.
There are 5 specific briefs to choose from:
Hand Hygiene
Direct physical contact between hospital staff and patients is a necessary part of hospital life, but it is also one of the most common ways that HCAIs are transferred. The risk of transferring HCAIs is considerably reduced when hospital staff clean their hands using soap and water and/or hand gel before they come into contact with a patient. Indirect transfer of HCAIs can occur when clinical staff, but also patients, visitors and cleaning staff, touch furniture or pieces of hospital equipment.
Design a new product and/or service or system that improves hand hygiene of hospital staff, patients and visitors. Emphasis should be on how staff can increase appropriate hand hygiene compliance at the point of care, in particular prior to invasive procedures. Proposals should be informed by the large body of work that has contributed to current hand hygiene procedures and the existing products employed within them. Proposals here will concern a physical product or technology more so than training or educational material.
Bedside Environment
The immediate area around a patient’s bed has been identified as a key area in fighting infections. Existing bedside furniture and fixtures are often hard to clean due to their shape, materials and surface finish.
Bedside Environment (furniture)
Design a specific item of bedside furniture (such as a chair, table, locker, personal storage system or isolation furniture). Proposals should consider how new items of furniture will fit with existing and legacy ward furniture and equipment.
Bedside Environment (total system)
Design a complete bedside system that is easy to clean and maintain, cost effective, and sustainable. These projects should equally provide a comfortable, functional and personal space for the wellbeing of the patient.
Commode
Patient care in a hospital includes the use of a commode for defecation and urination. Typically a commode is shaped like a chair and is wheeled to a patient’s bedside, where bedside curtains are then drawn to maintain the patient’s privacy and dignity. One commode maybe shared between several patients and therefore needs to be cleaned correctly between each use. Commodes are in constant use, so the time available for cleaning can be limited – as can the space available for cleaning complex and cumbersome commodes.
Design a commode which is easy to clean and enhances usability. Patient experience, comfort and dignity should also be considered a priority.
Patient Transport
Patients are moved around hospitals on a variety of devices including stretchers, wheelchairs and porters’ trolleys. This equipment can sometimes be used to transport patients into hospitals from the outside world, meaning there is the risk of bringing bacteria from the outside world into the heart of the hospital.
Design a means of patient transport (such as a trolley/stretcher or porter’s chair) that is easy to clean and will reduce the potential for the spread of HCAIs. Comfort and functionality - for both patient and member/s of staff - should remain key design principles.
Open Brief
Design a piece of equipment, furniture or system which directly or indirectly reduces the spread of common HCAIs in the healthcare environment.
The submissions were judged by a panel of specialists chosen for their expertise in design, health and manufacturing:
Chairman of the Judges: Richard Seymour, Creative Director, Seymourpowell
- Paul Cryer, HCAI Technology Programme Manager, Department of Health
- Tom Dixon OBE, Creative Director, Tom Dixon
- Prof Brian Duerden CBE, Inspector of Microbiology & Infection Control, Department of Health
- Colum Lowe, Managing Director, Caulder Moore
- Susan Osborne CBE, Director of Nursing, Department of Health
- Jonathan Plumb, Infection Prevention Practitioner and nurse advisor to the HCAI Technology Programme
The closing date for entries was 10 October 2008.
About who can enter, how to enter and the competition timeline.
Find out the answers and ask any questions of your own
