Completion of Pioneering Air Cleaning Research

The Trust has held an 18-month research project at Fountains Court using Quality Improvement (QI) tools to study the benefits of units in removing airborne pathogens and improving air quality in the enclosed environment of a mental health inpatient site.

The research is thought to be the first of its kind in a mental health inpatient unit studying the benefits of improved air quality for service users and staff.

The project is an extension of a study led by Cambridge University Hospitals Trust which had seen similar testing take place for physical health inpatient wards at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.

Fountains Court is a 26-bed acute assessment unit for older people with mental illness. Six air cleaning units have been installed with discreet housing covers and are all ligature-proof.

The final stage of testing had seen the air cleaning units switched off for three months so data could be gathered to compare air quality with and without the machines.

AirPurity, which also supported the research at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and is advising NHS England, provided the equipment. It marked the completion of the programme by announcing it was gifting the units used for the programme, worth £15k each, to Fountains Court.

AirPurity will now move to have its research published and ELFT is preparing to share its data for peer review publication.

The research at ELFT has been a joint programme involving clinical and estates teams. The Trust is now exploring the option of using air cleaning units in other inpatient services.

“This is the only research of its kind in mental health globally that has explored the benefits for service users and also for staff,” said David Stevens, Director of Estates, Facilities & Capital Development.

“The objective has been to really understand how improved air quality can help where patients have longer stays and different illnesses compared to physical health wards at acute hospitals and to also understand the physical and wellbeing benefits for staff in mental health inpatient services.”

Suzy Enoh-Arthur, Bedford community mental health clinical lead, is the principal QI lead for the ELFT project.
“This has been a collaborative project and I am incredibly proud of the commitment to research and innovation by every team member from across estates, clinical services and people participation."

Dr Angharad Ruttley, Medical Director, Luton and Bedfordshire Mental Health and Wellbeing Services, said:

“It has been a privilege for ELFT to work alongside AirPurity in leading the way to test whether air cleaning can add another layer of mitigation against airborne viruses in psychiatric settings.
This has been shown to be a hugely important research theme for our staff, service users and carers. The energy and attention to detail of colleagues from across services involved in this piece of work has been inspiring.”

AirPurity CEO Darren Sloof said: 

"The ELFT study may be complete, but the real work starts now. The findings prove that air management isn’t just about infection control—it’s about protecting lives, improving outcomes, and reshaping the way we think about healthcare environments. This isn’t just data; it’s a call to action. Now, the challenge is turning evidence into lasting change."