Pink Foam Mouth Swabs Are Banned! Which Products Can I Use Instead?
This week we received a call from a distressed lady who is supporting her Dad on end of life care and was looking for products to help keep his mouth fresh and clean, as the residential home where he is living say that they cant provide him with oral care ‘because foam mouth swabs are banned!’ and they weren’t prepared to source any alternative oral care products to meet this gentleman’s needs.
So the only time this gent currently gets any oral care is when his daughter visits, which is just awful.
I told the lady that I considered this was a safeguarding issue as the home is neglecting a?key area of his care, and to use the excuse that they couldn’t deliver mouth care because products are banned is not good enough, ignorance is no excuse!
Most people are aware that since 2012 pink foam mouth care swabs have been on a Medical Device Alert (MDA/2012/020) and their use banned in Wales and many NHS trusts throughout the UK. This followed a fatality when a sponge head became detached and dislodge in a patient’s mouth.
There have also been over 800 patient safety incidents issued by the MHRA relating to choking and aspiration risks from pink oral swabs.
We also know that innovation in safe oral care products for the elderly, vulnerable and for end-of-life care has been painfully slow until very recently, causing a challenge to care homes and hospitals who are trying to deliver safe oral care but without access to fit for purpose products available.
Because of our passion for patient safety and only providing fit for purpose solutions, Hcsuk made the decision some years ago to discontinue the more traditional oral care products that were past their sell by date – the pink foam mouth swabs because of the choking risk and lemon and glycerine mouth swabs, as glycerine is known to have a drying effect on the mouth which is counterproductive.
And we have launched a whole new range of safe, fit for purpose oral care product solutions, and here, our MD, Jo Bonser, explains 3 of these new products in this short video;
?With #CQC announcing on May 4th that oral care is again going to be a focus of their inspections, it's clear that care homes need to give oral care greater priority, so you may also find the following article helpful. - https://hcsuk.co.uk/why-oral-care-needs-to-be-given-greater-priority-in-care-homes/
And why not visit our oral care section of our website to check out all of our safe and fit-for-purpose oral care product solutions.
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