Hemel Hempstead based GAMA Healthcare wins International award for design excellence

'Pop up' isolation wins international award for design excellence
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GAMA Healthcare, based in Hemel Hempstead, has been recognised for its pop up isolation room in a Good Design Awards for Design Excellence.

The Good Design Awards honour both products and industry leaders in design and manufacturing that have chartered new directions and pushed the envelope for competitive products in the world marketplace.

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This year, GAMA Healthcare entered Rediroom, in the ‘Product Design’ and ‘Engineering Design’ categories in recognition for outstanding design and innovation.

GAMA Healthcare’s Instant Patient Isolation Room, Rediroom, is recognised in Australia’s International Good Design Awards for Design ExcellenceGAMA Healthcare’s Instant Patient Isolation Room, Rediroom, is recognised in Australia’s International Good Design Awards for Design Excellence
GAMA Healthcare’s Instant Patient Isolation Room, Rediroom, is recognised in Australia’s International Good Design Awards for Design Excellence

The isolation room on wheels ‘pops up’ in under five minutes to isolate infectious patients and keep others on the ward safe.

The Good Design Awards Jury said: “This is a timely and clever design that has the potential for enormous impact. Minimising cross contamination in hospitals is a global aim, particularly at the present time.

"The simple process of setting up the room, usage of colour-coded and numbered tabs is really intuitive.

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"The HEPA filtration and ease of decontamination are critical features that have been addressed. The design also solves common challenges such as portability, being able to easily see the patient, and ensuring the entry/exit stays closed. Amazing!”

Healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) are on the rise globally.

Within National Health Service (NHS) England, respiratory tract infections (pneumonia and other respiratory infections) account for 22.8% of all HCAIs, urinary tract infections for 17.2%, surgical site infections (SSI) for 15.7%, clinical sepsis for 10.5%, gastrointestinal infections for 8.8% and bloodstream infections for 7.3%.

HCAIs are estimated to cost the NHS in England £2.7 billion per year. In 2016/2017, 22,800 patients in NHS general and teaching hospitals in England died after contracting their healthcare-associated infection. HCAIs are a huge cause of morbidity & mortality and places a enormous strain on hospital resources.

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Developed by GAMA Healthcare in the UK, the concept behind Rediroom was the brainchild of an Australian ER nurse, Anna Ballantyne who was concerned about keeping infectious patients on an open ward until a private room was available.

GAMA’s instant patient isolation room was conceived to resolve the problem.

With development moving to the UK, GAMA worked in collaboration with industrial designers, infection preventionists and clinicians to build a final product suitable for the most common healthcare-associated infections – many of which spread through respiratory droplets.

Rediroom is the world’s first mobile isolation room. Transforming from a mobile PPE cart into a fully operational patient isolation room around an existing bed space.

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It can also be deployed whilst the patient is still in bed – safely isolating bed-bound patients. Rediroom offers protection from the most common infections.

The physical barrier and hands-free entry/exit help limit spread of contact pathogens and reduce the risk of hand transmission.

Guy Braverman, joint CEO and Co-founder at GAMA Healthcare, said: “I am thrilled to say Rediroom has been recognised in Australia’s International Good Design Awards for Design Excellence. With Rediroom you can create an effective isolation area and retain the flexibility to move it around anywhere.

"We are pleased to hear patients have said they feel reassured being cared for in the Redirooms, knowing they won’t be exposed to other patients.

"This isn’t just about COVID, there are a number of diseases which spread through contact and droplets such as flu and norovirus, so these patients should not be put on open, shared wards.”

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