COVER STORY
Smart choices for operating theatres
The 2015 Carter Report, Operational productivity and performance in English NHS acute hospitals: unwarranted variations, makes a number of recommendations that are as much about changing practices as looking at cost-savings – spend the money wisely and the savings will take care of themselves.
The subtitle of the Carter Report, unwarranted variations, hints at the main problems facing healthcare – does it make sense for a hospital to have thousands of suppliers when hundreds would do? The emphasis is on enabling standardisation and optimising supply and service, as well as delivering volume discounts. The first chapters of the executive summary of the report are entitled ‘Optimising resources and quality, efficiency and productivity’. In light of this, KARL STORZ asks whether it makes sense for the tools of the trade of an operating theatre, i.e. surgical instruments, to be poorly maintained, or take weeks to be returned – simply because the unit cost of a repair (prima facie) is lower? Is it the best use of time to expect a surgeon or theatre nurse to be trained in front-line maintenance of
surgical equipment? Is it efficient to have surgical trays consisting of equipment from three or four manufacturers? What is the true cost of faulty or missing equipment? These recommended changes in practices and the necessary investment in functional equipment is all well and good, but how are NHS hospitals going to afford it when, as we know, they are challenged by the increasing lack of capital funds? Rather than lobbying for increases in NHS budgets, KARL STORZ tackled the problem head on by challenging whether the business model of cyclical capital investment was, in fact, sensible, which in turn led to the development of SMART Solutions. SMART Solutions (Strategic Management of Assets and Resources in Theatres) is a bespoke partnership programme from KARL STORZ that aims to transform the
operational productivity and efficiency of operating theatres. The SMART Solutions programme is specifically designed to enable the NHS to instantly improve upon the quality and quantity of first-class patient outcomes in a sustainable, affordable and reliable way.
KARL STORZ recognises that the NHS needs industry and industry needs the NHS – after all, the NHS accounts for 85% of UK medical device business. More importantly, it recognises that patients need both: the amazing advances in endoscopic surgery are largely due to the brilliant pioneers working in the NHS and the innovation yielded from it, and the company’s support for surgical skills training centres, educational programmes, research projects and fellowships helps to ensure these advances continue. The company’s commitment to the NHS with SMART Solutions is substantial: KARL STORZ takes the financial risk, makes the initial investment, trains staff and maintains the equipment so that the NHS hospitals can pay from optimised revenue.
SMART Solutions – providing the building blocks for a complete solution
SMART Solutions is a modular tailored solution: hospitals can choose exactly the elements they need, which can then be quickly and easily modified or extended if required further down the line, offering the
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WWW.CLINICALSERVICESJOURNAL.COM OCTOBER 2016
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