Sunninghill Hospital has new germ-zapping robots

Healthcare facilities the world over face a daily challenge to prevent the spread of infections and, with increasing concern about antibiotic resistance, South African healthcare group Netcare is teaming up with robots that seek and destroy viruses and bacteria within minutes.

In a statement, Netcare said the delivery of the Xenex Pulsed UV Disinfection Robot, distributed by Kiara Health, was met with excitement by staff of Netcare Sunninghill Hospital involved in infection prevention and control.

Jacques du Plessis, managing director of Netcare’s hospital division said, “Our new ‘allies’ in infection prevention and control have shown such impressive results internationally and during pilot trials at two of our hospitals, that Netcare recently ordered a second consignment of these highly advanced robots, manufactured by Xenex, to further bolster our comprehensive existing disinfection measures.”

Senior clinical advisor at Netcare, Dr Caroline Maslo, explained that the Xenex Pulsed Xenon UV Disinfection Robots were recently made available in Africa for the first time, but are becoming an established line of defence against bacteria, viruses and fungi in healthcare facilities across Europe and the United States.

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“We initially tested the Xenex Pulsed UV Disinfection Robots at Netcare Blaauwberg Hospital and Netcare Pretoria East Hospital, where we found that they quickly and efficiently disinfected the areas where they were deployed.

“Having tested the robots in different settings in the two facilities in separate provinces, we found that the results lived up to the independent international studies endorsing this method of disinfection.

“What we found particularly impressive is the fact that the pulsed high-intensity xenon ultraviolet [UV] light used by the robots is not only highly effective in destroying viruses, bacteria and fungal spores, but is also able to achieve thorough disinfection far more quickly than the other traditional methods, which we continued to use alongside the robots. In addition, the robots can be used 24 hours a day.

“This means that we are able to continually move the robots around within our facilities to apply this rigorous disinfection within minutes, with minimal disruption to busy hospital areas. We have also enlisted the robots for disinfecting Netcare 911 ambulances to excellent effect.

“Introducing this new disinfection technology in Netcare hospitals is a significant step forward and is keeping our facilities abreast of the latest advances in the global fight against microbe resistance in healthcare facilities.

“We are very encouraged to see the results the robots have shown in Netcare hospitals.”

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