Juntendo University Nerima Hospital - Japan
Juntendo Hospital was the first private hospital in Japan, originally founded in 1838 as a Dutch School of Medicine at a time when Western medical education was not yet embedded as a normal part of Japanese society.
With the creation of Juntendo, the founders hoped to create a place where people could come together with the shared goal of helping society through the powers of medical education and practices.
The university specialises in the fields of health science, health and sports science, nursing health care and sciences, and international liberal arts, as well as medicine.
The Challenge
The Infection Control Team at Juntendo found several used urine and feces bowls left in the sluice room waiting to be washed, resulting in a very unhygienic working environment for staff. This was caused by busy wards and staff that could not wait for the bed pan washer to complete its cycle.
To reduce exposure to staff working in the sluice room and improve the sluice room environment the Infection Control Team began to consider switching to single use pulp product. A DDC Dolphin Pulpmatic Ultima medical pulp macerator using single use pulp products was introduced in the Emergency Department for a six-month trial period.
The Solution
After a successful trial period Sakura were instructed to install a further 11 Pulpmatic Ultima and Pulpmatic Uno macerators. The DDC Dolphin macerators and single use pulp not only reduced the risk of cross contamination but it also provided a much improved sluice room environment.
By using single-use pulp products placed directly into the macerator no preliminary washing of the containers was required and time spent in the sluice room for clinicians reduced from 41 to 9 minutes per day. Plus, from an operations perspective the Pulpmatic macerators have proved to be exceptionally economic using little water and energy in addition to a 30% saving in chemical usage. It was the perfect solution for the infection control team, operators, clinicians and patients who were all happy using the single use pulp containers and macerators.
The Outcome
Apart from the operational benefits, switching to medical pulp macerators greatly improved the sluice room environment and the cooperation between the Infection Control Team and ward staff. We were very impressed with the overall benefits of using this system and the future for us will certainly be using macerators and single use pulp wherever possible.
Mr Tomohiko Iizuka- ICN - Juntendo University Nerima Hospital