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Brandon begins Scan4Safety work
Brandon Medical has begun the transition to adopt the newly established ‘Scan4Safety’ initiative, spearheaded by the Department of Health. The £12 m project aims to improve
accuracy and efficiency within the NHS to enhance patient safety, saving an estimated £1 bn over seven years via the use of GS1 and PEPPOL-compliant barcode technology. The Leeds-based medical technology
company has completed a Statement of Commitment for the Department of Health, and the company meets GS1 and PEPPOL eProcurement standards. Brandon explained: “GS1 standards harness product and location coding and data synchronisation, whereas PEPPOL standards relate to purchase, dispatch, and invoice processes. Combined, these standards improve organisation and
transparency for suppliers, making it easier for companies to do business with the NHS.” Under the Scan4Safety programme
barcodes will be placed on everything from breast implants to surgical tools, enabling subsequent traceability of, for example, surgical instruments discovered to be defective post-use. NHS staff will also be able to record patients’ medication and equipment using barcodes on wristbands. Brandon is developing the barcode
requirement for all its Class I medical devices – examination lights, minor surgical lights, operating theatre lights, and spares. The company added: “We have assigned GS1 UK-generated GTINs and GLNs to all of our product range, and will create barcodes in the near future when we have upgraded our ERP system.”
Process converts hygiene waste into fuel
Millions of feminine hygiene products, nappies, and other hygiene waste currently sent to landfill by hospitals, GPs’ surgeries, care homes, and other healthcare organisations, can now be recycled to produce clean energy, according to PHS Group. The result of a multi-million pound
investment, the company’s LifeCycle process – said to be the first ‘that can operate cost-effectively and on an industrial scale’ – combines mechanical separation with chemical treatment,
converting highly absorbent hygiene products into Refused Derived Fuel (RDF), which is then supplied to the alternative energy market both in the UK and in Europe. RDF is typically burned in biomass plants to produce electricity and hot water for municipal power systems, National Grid, or individual companies. The Environment Agency and Nappy Alliance say hygiene product waste ‘takes up to 500 years to decompose, and is one of the largest contributors to UK landfill’. Justin Tydeman, PHS Group CEO, said:
“We have spent almost a decade refining the LifeCycle process, and now have a viable option for diverting hygiene waste products away from landfill. Our goal is zero to landfill for our customers’ hygiene waste products by the end of 2017.”
East Kent medical devices tracked using RFID
Harland Simon says East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust (EKHUFT) is ‘experiencing multiple cost and efficiency improvements’ using its RFiD Discovery system to track over 5,000 medical devices, including 1,000 beds. Harland Simon said: “Active RFID
tracking has considerably reduced the time clinical and engineering staff spend looking for devices, improved equipment utilisation levels, increased patient safety, and helped drive down the need for ad-hoc device hires. Supporting their three medical equipment libraries, RFiD Discovery helps keep track of devices across EKHUFT’s
18 Health Estate Journal April 2017
three major acute hospital sites.” Each device’s active RFID tag sends a
regular message to a network of fixed readers placed at various hospital locations, while the clinical engineering team use mobile readers to audit wards ‘in a fraction of the time it took previously. Dr. Tony Beaumont, Anaesthetic
consultant, and head of the Medical Devices Group at EKHUFT, said: “Ward staff now spend less time finding equipment, and more time actually using it for patient care. The nursing teams have great faith in the libraries, and their use has been one of the success stories of our medical equipment management.”
More time for care, less time cleaning trays
Medical and nursing staff in Cumberland Infirmary’s Accident and Emergency departments are using a time-saving, hygienic new system of organising and disposing of medical items when assessing and treating patients. The hospital has replaced reusable
plastic general purpose trays, which sit on the assessment trolleys, with Vernacare’s single-use CS Receiver dishes made from renewable natural fibre. These can be quickly disposed of after use to ensure that a clean treatment tray is used for every patient, eliminating the inconvenience and time it takes to clean blood and other contaminants from the plastic trays. Vernacare said: “Carlisle’s
Cumberland Infirmary completed a four- week trial of the general purpose tray on its A&E and emergency assessment departments. Staff found the single-use system more convenient to use, allowing more time for frontline patient care, and providing assured standards of cleanliness.” The CS Receiver trays are part of
Vernacare’s single-use system of hygienic patient toileting and washing, used throughout Cumberland Infirmary, comprising disposable bedpans, urinals, washbowls, and other renewable natural fibre containers. After use, the products are placed in Vernacare’s Vortex disposal machines, and broken down into a fine slurry that flows freely through the drains. The photo shows Matron, Elizabeth
Klein, (right), with Vernacare’s Gillian Brannon and the Vernacare CS Receiver dishes.
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