Steady in the Face of Change

Whatever the result of the election on 8^th June 2017, one thing we can all be certain of is that there will still be a great deal of uncertainty!

Brexit will be casting its shadow of course, but there will be other decisions to be made that will affect the National Health Service and the healthcare sector generally.

Not just funding, but reorganisation of the provision of health and social care in the UK. It is an issue that won’t go away given the demands of our ageing population and the fact that the benefits of healthy eating initiatives and a more rigorous exercise regime are generational changes, not short term fixes.

Through all of these upheavals the work of delivering good quality healthcare still needs to be done and key principles that underpin so much of that delivery remain unchanged and are correctly, unchallenged.

Like hand hygiene. An American study has shown that on average healthcare providers clean their hands less than half the number of times that they should. That is in spite of the universally acknowledged fact that good hand hygiene is the most important way of reducing the transmission of infectious agents during the delivery of care. Those agents include those which are resistant to antibiotics and which are becoming difficult, if not impossible, to treat.

The Great Ormond Street Hospital covers the subject of hand hygiene in great detail, reflecting the significance of the issue. Drying hands thoroughly with paper towels, no cloth towels to be used, no jet air or warm air dryers in clinical areas, using the towel to turn off the tap and disposing of the towel without touching the bin lid. They see hand hygiene as that important.

Northwood Hygiene Products is UK based and UK focussed. It understands the issues like these and its products feature in hospitals and health care facilities across the country. Well placed to deliver both the current requirement and future demands, its upstream integration strategy means it controls much of its own supply chain.

This in turn gives greater stability to its commitment to distributors and end users alike. By collecting its own post-consumer waste paper, manufacturing the parent reels in its own mills and then converting them into established and highly regarded brands such as Leonardo, Bay West, Northwood, though not immune from the vagaries of the international global marketplace, is better placed than most to deal with the consequences and so can continue to offer both reliability of supply and consistent product quality.

The Leonardo dispensing systems are designed to meet most hand hygiene requirements.  The Smart Sensor dispenser offers no-touch dispensing for hygiene critical areas, with programmable sheet lengths and stub roll transfer. Easy to install and maintain they deliver the high hygiene levels required, coupled with the competitive cost in use performance figures that are essential in today’s demanding marketplace.

But not all areas in hospitals are designated clinical and so other, less technologically sophisticated dispensers in the range are able to be matched to the appropriate standards ensuring the most cost effective option is always available.

Within the healthcare sector, particularly in the private sector, there is often the awareness of a need for an outward facing presentation that is designed to impress. It is a part of the brand building that defines the proposition and whilst there is no reduction in either hygiene standards or cost effectiveness, the aesthetic considerations become an increasingly important consideration in the purchasing decision.

Designed to impress! Bay West dispensing systems are exactly that!

Whilst sharing the same robust construction and easy maintenance features of its Leonardo companion, Bay West dispensers make a strong quality statement to those users who both anticipate and expect it.

Whatever future events dictate, Northwood is an ideal partner to help meet evolving challenges. in the “Away from Home” disposable  paper hygiene products.

For more information please contact Paul Mulready, Marketing Manager, Northwood Hygiene Products Ltd, e-mail paul.mulready@northwood.co.uk