Research lab for infection prevention and control opens

Test Labs, the new Peterborough-based research laboratory, is designed specifically for testing and researching questions around infection prevention and control with particular focus around healthcare environments. 

Test Labs aim to provide healthcare providers with reassurance that medical devices meet the required standards and are fit for decontamination against exposure to harmful contaminants, including the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen which causes COVID-19. 

COVID-19 has transformed the healthcare world, and decontamination in particular. Before the pandemic, hospitals might source products first, then consider how to decontaminate them. 

With the assistance of Test Labs, manufacturers can integrate decontamination into their product-development processes. That way, they can ensure that newly launched products have proven compatibility with the main cleaning and decontamination technologies and come complete with ready-to-use decontamination protocols. 

Created to ease the bottleneck in decontamination technology testing, Test Labs’ comprehensive range of services will ensure that all businesses needing to incorporate infection prevention and control can rely on the products they buy or manufacture to withstand decontamination practices in eliminating opportunities for users to acquire infection.  

The comprehensive services that Test Labs offer include HALT Testing, Material Compatibility Testing, Efficacy Testing and development of Cleaning protocols. 

The Peterborough lab was opened by Paul Bristow, Conservative MP for Peterborough, and Rob Hughes, chairman of Peterborough City Hospital, in a controlled, socially distanced ribbon-cutting ceremony.  

Paul Bristow, MP for Peterborough, said: “This really is cutting edge stuff, some of the technology and some of the equipment here is unique, not only here in the UK but also unique in Europe. What’s really impressed me is the innovation- the fact that we’re not just trying to create something that already exists; this is trying to find new solutions to new problems we’ve encountered.” 

Tautvydas Karitonas, head of research and development at Inivos, added: “The opening of our Test Labs is great news for the healthcare industry. The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed a huge extra burden on both commercial and government testing facilities.” 

“Yet manufacturers still need to test their products – including pandemic responses, which should always be a priority. No matter how high our standards were before, they now have to be higher than ever.  

“Hospitals and manufacturers must work together to keep infection rates as low as possible – which is where Test Labs can play a vital role. Together, we can provide hospitals, key workers and their patients with reassurance that the medical devices and products being used meet the required European standards.”