Fewer hard-to-reach corners and surfaces make this Design Bugs Out bedside cabinet easier to clean and more accessible for patients.
Designer: Kinneir Dufort
Manufacturer: Hospital Metalcraft Ltd (Bristol Maid™)
How it works
Removable drawers with cutaway sides are easy to clean and can be reached by patients without having to get out of bed.
The backless design of the cabinet frame, its wipe-clean fascia and integrated handles reduce the number of inaccessible surfaces, allowing rapid cleaning.
Rotationally-moulded plastic is durable, easy to clean and minimises the need for joins and crevices that can harbour bacteria.
An in-built RFID lock in the bedside cabinet allows patients to secure their belongings without a traditional lock and key mechanism, which is difficult to clean.
The problem
Existing bedside cabinets are difficult to clean. Their complex internal spaces, inaccessible surfaces, angular joints and rough, absorbent materials can harbour liquids, dirt and bacteria.
The solution
A revised version of the traditional bedside cabinet made from durable, wipe-clean plastic that reduces the number of hard-to-reach corners and surfaces without cutting down patient storage space.
The designers' insights
In this short film, Kinneir Dufort discuss the design of the Bedside Cabinet.
Evaluation
Staff did consider that the new cabinet would be easier to clean, but opinion was more divided on whether this would actually lead to cabinets being cleaner. They found it strong and sturdy and easy to move and use, but a fifth of them did not agree that the locks worked consistently. Fewer than half the staff thought that the amount of storage space available was adequate, while a significant minority thought that the cabinet was too big. Overall, however, nearly 70% of staff thought that the new cabinet was better than the old one.
Patients thought that the cabinet was clean, strong and sturdy, and 60% thought that it was easy to use. Over half thought that it provided enough storage space, but a quarter did not. Over half thought that it was easy to access, but a fifth did not. Overall, 68% of patients liked the new cabinet.
Visitors’ views were similar to those of patients on those issues they were asked about (they were not asked about the amount of storage space) but rather more – around three-quarters – liked it.
The work carried out by a human factors expert confirmed these findings. The cabinet generally performed well across the criteria selected by stakeholders, with the amount of storage space emerging as the most significant issue, particularly where patients had large amounts of medication. Bristol Maid™ state, however, that the new cabinet does in fact provide similar if not more space compared with similar cabinets on the market.
The absence of any hanging space led to items such as towels, coats and jackets being hung on the bedside chair. However, it should be noted that the option to provide a hanging space/hook was considered and discounted by the Expert Reference Group during the design consultations. It was not deemed good practice for the future to have towels and clothes being hung on the side of the cabinet.
One person in five was worried about the stability of the cabinet – this appeared to be because it was light and made of plastic rather than wood.
Some 68% of staff and 66% of patients and visitors considered that the new cabinet was an improvement on the old one, but 24% of staff and 21% of patients rated it poorer.
This work also tended to endorse the finding noted earlier that, just because the cabinet is easy to clean, does not necessarily mean that it will be cleaned. Some 57% of staff and 32% of patients and visitors saw cabinets that could do with cleaning. On the other hand, contrary to the views of some staff mentioned above, the locks appeared to work reliably. (There had been some problems in the early phase of the project, but these had been resolved.) The main issue here is the allocation, storage and control of cards so as to maintain security while not restricting patients’ access to their personal items. Also, confused patients are likely to have difficulty using key cards, or may forget or lose them.
There were some signs of wear and tear on the cabinets, but equivalent comparisons were not made with similar wooden bedside cabinets.
One issue that arose during the observation period was the adequacy of the training provided on how to clean the cabinet and, indeed, more generally on awareness of infection control measures. As part of the preparations for the evaluations, training and support (including hard and electronic copies of a comprehensive manual) were made available to all showcase hospitals to ensure that instructions could be disseminated quickly and easily, but local inconsistencies may have contributed to issues in cleaning the cabinets.
Clearly, this is not an issue relating to the design of the cabinet – indeed, staff did not see any great difference between the old and new cabinets in terms of how and how often they should be cleaned – but is one that hospitals generally may wish to check up on. No further significant issues arose during implementation.
The laboratory-based cleaning assessments showed that the new cabinet was easier or as easy to clean as the old one.
To sum up, overall the new cabinet appears to be an improvement on the old one, although a significant minority of people clearly do not like it. There is a perception that the bedside cabinet may have less storage space than the old one, but the manufacturers state that this is not the case. Individual hospitals will be able to assess how they would make best use of the storage space available depending on the patient group for which the product is being used.