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What are the future implications of this research?
Over the past few years Covid has had a huge impact on the NHS. Redeployment of many staff during the peaks of the pandemic, and the resulting suspension of many routine treatments, has led to a huge increase of patient wait times. With Covid still present and the ongoing need for stringent infection control, hospitals are still unable to function at full capacity. A particular problem is the lack of sufficient ventilation in many hospital consulting rooms. As a result 'clearance time' often needs to be built in between paitents to allow for aerosol particle clearance and ensure patient safety.
It is our hope that through the research carried out as part of the Safe Air study, and examining how interventions such as portable air purifiers can impact on particle clearance, we can develop clear recommendations and guidance to help make consulting rooms and hospital environments safer. This should then have an impact on hospital waiting times by allowing rooms that were previously deemed unsafe to be used, and by reducing the need for 'clearance time' between patients.