Historically, infection & contamination control has been viewed primarily as clinical practice issue, but increasingly it is being recognised that it has an impact beyond this environment i.e. infection & contamination control is now a social, political, regulatory and economic issue which continues to attract the attention within the highest ranks of government and medical officials. 

Poor infection and contamination control has been estimated by the Office of National Audit Office (NAO) to result in hospital acquired infection costs to the NHS of £1 billion per year associated with increased:

• Bed occupancy due to longer stays in hospital.
• Medical and care costs.
• Appointment canellation, waiting list times and mortality/morbidity rates.
• Civil and criminal litigation costs.
• Staff sickness & absence etc.

The NAO estimates that at any one time, 9% of patients in NHS hospitals are suffering from an infection acquired while on wards or in surgery and that 100,000 patients are affected in this way each year – 5,000 of who die as a result.

The NAO report concluded that around 15% of the infections caught in hospitals are preventable and that as a result that around 750 deaths a year could be saved, in addition to approximately £150m in costs.

Despite these facts, Sir John Bourn, head of the NAO, and Dr James Robertson, one of the report's authors, stated that 50% of hospital Chief Executives neither receive reports on the amount of infection in their hospitals nor know how much their hospital is spending on it i.e. the NAO estimates that 20% of NHS trusts do not have an infection control programme and only 40% have a designated budget.

These facts and other social, political and regulatory pressures has resulted in healthcare/medical sector practitioners & executives fundamental reassessing infection control as not only being concerned with clinical excellence and health and safety, but equally with legal & financial risk management i.e. increasing litigation, financial penalties associated with failure to meet waiting list targets & imminent EU mandatory enforcement of infection control standards.

Medipure believes that critically, only a coordinated & ‘integrated’ approach to infection & contamination control that identifies, manages and controls risks along the entire process chain can ensure maintenance of sterile conditions i.e. for example, within endoscopy consideration needs to be given to water source quality and disinfection equipment maintenance through to establishment of subsequent infection control systems, protocols & procedures.  Only this holistic process chain approach will adequately address the infection and contamination problems prevalent within the U.K public & private healthcare/medical sectors.

Against this background, Medipure is perhaps uniquely within the U.K. public & private healthcare/medical sectors, an independent provider of such integrated/end-to-end and importantly scientifically & market proven infection control and contamination analysis, treatment and prevention services, consumables and products which range from water, air and mirobiological sampling and laboratory analysis detection, through to the provision of disinfection and decontamination products/equipment based treatments and consultancy, education and training based prevention services.

Medipure’s believes that whilst not all hospital infection is avoidable a significant proportion can be prevented through a coordinated and integrated full service offering to analysis, treatment and prevention of infection and contamination control.

Medipure therefore represents a one-stop-shop for U.K. public and private healthcare/medical professionals & executives involved in infection and contamination control within hospital theatres, HSDU, CSSD, ENT, Endoscopy departments etc. and to their related service & equipment manufacturers.

Such services, consumables and products can be provided on either a ‘one-off’ basis or via a modular annual contract basis to.