79146SCREENswitch: Switchable Opacity Patient Isolation SystemsClosedSmall Business Research InitiativeInnovate UKMany people have been put into isolation in hospitals due to COVID-19 and this will continue into the future if the pandemic persists. Using partition screens is one of the most hygienic ways to segregate patients but they are limited by the fact that they are either opaque or transparent. There is need for both options, as patients require privacy but also must not be left to feel completely secluded; there are well documented negative mental health impacts on patients who have undergone extended periods of isolation. There is therefore a need for patients who are isolated in hospitals to have both the option of privacy, and to be able to see the rest of their ward. SCREENswitch is a feasibility study to understand whether Smart Glass, which switches from being opaque to clear at the click of a button, can be used in creating retractable hospital screening partitions. These would transform the delivery of in-ward patient isolation, giving the patient the control over their environment, minimising the stress on their mental health. Currently, there is no solution that allows for a clear infection control screen to become opaque at the touch of a button. Instead, an external product must be used alongside the clear screen to allow for privacy. These products, such as curtains, are usually unhygienic and inconvenient to use. Most worryingly, 90% of curtains used in NHS hospitals are made of disposable polypropylene, disposed of by incineration or landfill every few months, which is damaging the environment. Working with UCLH, SCREENswitch would help lead to a more sustainable public sector, by creating an easy-to-clean and therefore reusable product that can ultimately replace single-use curtains in hospitals with an innovative, sustainable alternative. It would help the NHS recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and implement better isolation systems to prevent further spread of infectious diseases in hospitals and reduce the mental health effects of isolation in the future. KwickScreen has over a decade of experience in designing, manufacturing and selling retractable privacy and infection control screens to hospitals. The company's screens can be found in every NHS trust and their equivalents in the UK. SCREENswitch will work with a specialist producer of Smart Glass. The two companies, who are both local to each other, will work together to carry out this feasibility study, and later development, of creating a switchable-opacity isolation system.