Public Funding for Cristex Limited

The NHS use curtains in wards to provide patient privacy e.g. during administration of medicine/treatment/consultation. Collectively they use ~500,000 such curtains in a market worth £150m p.a. which is segmented as: (i) 90% "disposable" polypropylene antimicrobial fabric (replaced every 3-6 months or when contaminated) and (ii) 10% "washable" polyester fabric. The NHS has a policy to phase-out "washables" driven by cost reduction, reducing infection incidents from poor washing processes, and reducing the environmental impact from use of detergents. However, "disposables**"** create biohazard risks and are sent to landfill or incinerated. We will create, for the first time, an innovative Patient Privacy Screen (PatientScreen) to replace hospital curtains. They will be cost competitive and will radically improve NHS sustainability.