Efficiency and high infection prevention standards are paramount to the smooth and safe running of any healthcare facility. One often overlooked but critical component in maintaining high standards, and preventing infections, is a hospital macerator. While most healthcare facilities in the UK have a hospital macerator as a standard, the benefits of having a spare on hand cannot be overstated.

Why should you keep a spare hospital macerator?

1.       Uninterrupted operations

Any disruption to daily operations in a healthcare environment can be detrimental, resulting in long backlogs of patients, delayed procedures, and possibly a lapse in care. By having a spare macerator on hand, you are ensuring continual safe and hygienic care in the event of a maintenance issue or fault and are not compromising on patient and staff safety.

This is particularly important in busy wards and areas where disruptions or machine failures can have extreme consequences, and high dependency units where patients require the absolute highest level of infection prevention standards.

2.       Minimise downtime

As we’ve mentioned above, our busy healthcare system cannot afford to have long delays or disruptions to the day to day routine. A hospital macerator does require regular maintenance, which comes with it an element of downtime needed. However, having a spare macerator minimises the need for this downtime and ensures you always have a working macerator at any given time, upholding infection prevention protocols and standards of patient care at all times.

3.       Maintaining Infection Prevention Practices

Infection prevention is the top priority in all healthcare settings – healthcare-associated infections can have devastating consequences and must be protected against as much as possible. A spare macerator ensures that you can quickly addresses any issues with a primary unit, without human waste accumulating in your sluice room, increasing infection risk.

4.       It’s cost effective

Although there may be an upfront additional cost, the cost benefit of having the spare macerator on hand means any initial payout is justified. Avoiding prolonged downtime and emergency repairs to a primary unit can save you money, plus the uninterrupted operations can save our healthcare facilities costs also by removing the need to delay appointments and procedures and increase hospital stays.

5.       Prepared for fluctuating patient volumes

Healthcare facilities are busier than ever, and there’s ever more patients needing treatment with the winter months being the busiest. Just the one primary unit may not always provide an efficient service should your healthcare facility receive a higher number of patients and hospital stays. Having a spare macerator allows you to respond to this demand, ensuring even increased volumes of patients doesn’t affect your infection prevention protocols, and all human waste can be disposed of without compromising on patient care or hygiene.

6.       Be prepared for the unexpected

Emergencies happen and can come without any time to plan for it. Healthcare facilities must be prepared to continue operations despite challenging times, and a spare macerator adds to your preparations for a potential change in circumstances.

Interruptions to any healthcare environment can be challenging, and investing in a spare hospital macerator is a necessary investment. Maintaining the highest standards of care is paramount, and a spare hospital macerator contributes to the overall efficiency and quality of patient care.