We collaborated with Dr Jon Otter, Director of Infection Prevention and Control, and Amal Hussein, Matron for Infection Prevention and Control, at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust, along with their teams, to support staff in developing creative solutions to reduce these bacteria.

These pathogens are responsible for 65% of hospital-acquired infections, contribute to over 5,000 patient deaths annually in the NHS and cost the NHS more than £2 billion each year.

We began the project by running a co-design workshop with staff from across the Trust, asking them to share their thoughts on the journey of infections in the hospital, define key ingredients for a successful intervention and develop team ideas for ‘designing away the bugs’.

We also carried out a site visit with the team to understand how catheters and lines are stored, used and managed, identifying places and touch points where communications could support better infection control. We then analysed ideas and feedback and provided the team with a comprehensive review of findings and ideas. 

Following workshops with the Trust’s improvement team, we developed a range of creative responses which were approved by the Infection Control team. This included equipment tags, training champion badges, equipment passports, posters and wall graphics. 

The team will now pilot these interventions in selected wards and assess their impact on infection rates before considering a wider rollout, depending on the results. 

If you are involved in health challenges in hospitals or in the community and would like to use design to bring your knowledge to life, please do get in touch.