The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 277 No 7431 p736
16 December 2006

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· The Society (3)
· The profession (3)
· Methadone dispensing
· CD prescribing (2)
· Dispensing
· Dress codes
· Pharmacy services
· Work breaks
· Pharmacy in Spain

Letters to the Editor

Dress codes

Serious, urgent attention required

From Mr J. Sharp, HonMRPharmS

When your headline “NHS dress code expected” (PJ, 9 November, p682) caught my eye I felt a tingle of eager anticipation. At last, I thought — some serious consideration of the type and nature of protective clothing to be worn in operating theatres and in other critical situations. I was rapidly deflated on discovering that this was nothing more than yet another facet of the current mindless debate on the political correctness of the wearing of religious symbols.

When compared with the standards of apparel for workers in industrial aseptic processing areas, as required by the regulators and as practised by the industry, the “protective” clothing worn by personnel in operating theatres is woefully, painfully, inadequate. In industry, the objective is to prevent micro-organisms and other particles shed by humans entering the relatively small openings in ampoules or vials, which might then, secondarily , infect patients. In stark contrast, in an operating theatres, relatively large openings (eg, thoracic or abdominal cavities) can be wide open and exposed to direct infection. Standards should therefore be higher than in industry, not lamentably lower.

In the context of the appalling figures for hospital-acquired infections this is the aspect of “dress code” that really requires serious, urgent attention.

John Sharp
Woodley, Berkshire

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