Showing posts with label 'Singh Thattha' Technique#Bearded Doctors#. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 'Singh Thattha' Technique#Bearded Doctors#. Show all posts

Thursday, November 19, 2020

'Singh Thattha' Technique :UK Team Trials 'Singh Thattha' to Protect Bearded Doctors on COVID Frontline

Dr Safri, a Dentist based in Hampshire, said 'Singh Thattha'  technique also helps overcome crucial cost and supply issues associated with high-level PPE.

A UK research team's innovative beard covering technique, dubbed as the "Singh Thattha", which enables bearded medics to wear a well-fitting respirator mask while on frontline COVID-19 duties without the need for shaving has proved effective in initial trials.

The team, led by Professor Randhawa from University of Bedfordshire and Dr Rajinder Pal Singh, sought to work on a solution following numerous calls by Public Health England (PHE) to protect doctors from ethnic minorities, including Sikh, Jewish and Muslim communities, who tend to have beards for religious reasons.

"Because shaving was a mandatory pre-requisite for wearing respirator masks, many members of the faith-observant bearded community, such as Sikh, Jewish and Muslim, have been affected and have had to face the dilemma of redeployment from frontline healthcare jobs involving exposure to COVID-19," said Randhawa, Professor of Diversity in Public Health at the University of Bedfordshire and Director of the university's Institute for Health Research.

Manchester-based transplant surgeon Dr Rajinder Pal Singh came up with the idea of using an under-mask beard cover, or a beard band traditionally referred to as the 'thattha' by Sikhs, to allow him to wear an FFP3 respirator mask – an essential personal protective equipment (PPE) for frontline medics – and his innovation ended up passing the National Health Service (NHS) qualitative Fit Test.

According to the University of Bedfordshire, an initial trial meant that there appeared to be a choice – that shaving may not be essential to don a respirator mask.

The partnership between Prof. Randhawa and Dr Singh led to an in-depth study of the promising and innovative alternative.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2020/nov/17/uk-team-trials-singh-thattha-to-protect-bearded-doctors-on-covid-frontline

Dr. Gurdeep Kaur
Associate Professor
Sri Guru Nanak Dev Khalsa College
University of Delhi