Coimbatore firm to introduce medical textiles at AIIMS,set national standards To control spread of infection,the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) is set to revamp the linen used by the hospital. The flagship project is a joint effort of the ministries of Health and Textiles to ensure national quality standards for all textile products used in ICUs,operation theatres and OPDs. The South India Textile Research Association (SITRA),based in Coimbatore,has been identified as the centre for research on medical textiles by the Textiles ministry. It will also fix the national standards for such products. According to K P Chellamani,deputy director of SITRA,AIIMS is the first government hospital we have been appointed to help. What we work out there,will be replicated in other hospitals in the future. SITRAs goals include identifying products that make hygiene maintenance easier,and cut the risk of hospital-based infections. Incidentally,this is the first time AIIMS is going for a change in textile products. We follow standards set by the Bureau of Indian Standards for purchases of hospital consumables. But we still get requests from patients to be allowed to wear their own kurtas to the OT and use their own bedsheets. Government hospital linen is said to be stained,dirty and torn. Even doctors often complain about their OT gowns and masks,since all items are taken to the same laundry. Clearly,there is a lot of room for improvement, said a senior administrative official from AIIMS. Secretary of the National Accreditation Board of Hospitals,under the Quality Council of India Dr Girdhar Gynai said: The BIS standards are limited and do not apply to most meditech products,though they provide specifications for other hospital equipment. This is an important aspect for (control of) hospital-based infections,which has been largely ignored in India. In a meeting held between AIIMS and SITRA last month,the latter suggested an overhaul of nine kinds of medical textile products including bed linen,wound dressings,sutchers,doctors gloves,and operation theatre apparel such as OT masks,patient gowns and curtains. This was to improve their quality and increase longevity. The SITRA has also suggested that certain products used in critical care units and operation theatres be identified for one-time use,for infection control. A special committee has been appointed at AIIMS to evaluate the new standards along with the SITRA team. The tensile strength,the frequency of wash and the wear-and-tear of products,considering the volume of usage in government hospitals,are factors that experts will take into consideration to develop standards. We are evaluating the cost efficacy as well as this will be a largescale overhaul of our entire medical products range, he added.
