Royal South Hants Hospital

The specification of fixtures and fittings for a hospital requires careful consideration to ensure the clinical environment remains safe and infection-free for patients and the staff who work there. Taps are of particular importance as they can spread germs and bacteria between users and can also be a scalding risk. To overcome these issues, Bristan has a range of taps dedicated to the needs of its hospital clients, including Royal Hants Hospital, Southampton, which has just appointed Bristan as its supplier for all future tap installations.

The Royal Hants Hospital is part of the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and is home to the Southampton NHS Treatment Centre – a state of the art facility providing high quality specialist treatments in nine specialties. The centrally located hospital is run on behalf of the NHS by Care UK and is managed by NHS Property Services. 

In 2018, the Royal Hants Hospital’s estates team was reviewing its fixtures specification when they were approached about a new tap which would improve infection control, safety and the durability of its installations.

Roger Berry, Technical Services Supervisor (M&E) at the Hospital said: “We were looking at alternative taps for our rolling refurbishment programme on the estate and for future projects, when we were approached by Bristan through our wholesalers Williams about its range for the healthcare market. We made a time for them to come in and see us and were very impressed with what we were shown.”

Bristan has a number of taps which are ideal for hospitals (NHS D08 approved) including the H64 single control wall mounted basin mixer. This tap is also available in a deck mounted variation. The addition of thermostatic mixing valves in these taps reduces the risk of scalding, as does the safe touch surfaces feature, plus they are all lever operated for ease of use.

Roger continued: “We just loved the products. They were price competitive, which is really important when you are working to very tight budgets, they are lever operated to help our staff reduce the risk of infection transfer and they have eccentric tails so will fit in all positions. The one thing that really stood out to us though was how easy the taps were to clean and service, and this is essential for infection control.”

Bristan’s designated healthcare taps feature smooth internal waterways and spouts with angled, machined internals that don’t retain water to ensure there are no areas in the tap where water can stagnate, as this can potentially be a breeding ground for legionella bacteria. The spouts can be removed for descaling when required, which further helps with infection control as well as the efficiency and longevity of the tap.

The taps can be isolated from the front and feature an easy one-step isolation and filter removal to ensure servicing is quick and simple. The models also have an integral thermal flush mechanism, which can be operated with an Allen key to ensure there’s no need for specialist tools.
Roger added: “The taps can be serviced in half the time it would take us to do our existing fixtures, which helps us to streamline our operations. The taps are also robustly designed with anti-vandal features, so we know that they are built to last and will ultimately save us time on maintenance too.”

After successfully trialling the H64 Basin Mixer at the Hospital, Bristan has now secured the specification for all of the hospital’s future tap replacements, including new projects. They will be fitted in wards and consultation rooms, and any other spaces which are patient-facing.

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