MEDICAL OXYGEN SUPPLY FLO2
unitsdevelopedfollowing customer’s call for help
Shane King, head of Estates Operations at Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust (the Trust has been an SHJ customer since the company’s founding in 1967) explains that – concerned as to whether the VIEs at the Trust’s three main hospitals – St Mary’s in Paddington, Charing Cross Hospital in Fulham, and Hammersmith Hospital – would have sufficient flow capacity if COVID-19 patient numbers significantly increased, he and his team bid for funding under the NHS National Oxygen Programme in April 2020 to increase oxygen capacity and resilience. If its bid was successful, his team planned to use any funds awarded to upgrade the VIEs at all three hospitals, with the key elements being larger vaporisers and dedicated metering.
Flow capacity anomaly Shane King had discovered that the maximum flow capacities at Hammersmith and Charing Cross Hospitals were significantly lower than previously advised by suppliers, at around at 1200 L/min. He said: “Looking back, we were certainly running the VIEs at or very near capacity at times during the first and second ‘waves’ last year.” Prior to acquiring eight
ultrasonic FLUXUS G721CA oxygen flowmeters from Flexim early in 2021, the only means the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust Estates team had of monitoring the dynamic oxygen flow rates on the MGPS systems at the three hospitals was via the BOC telemetry facility that is part of the company’s VIE systems. Shane King explained: “With the considerable additional demand for oxygen during last year, we had set alarms to alert us should flow rates across any of the systems approach 90, and then 95 per cent, of the reduced VIE capacity we had learnt we had from two or our VIEs late last year.”
Flexim flowmeters
Shane King explained that, having learned that the Trust’s bid for NHS National NHS Oxygen Programme funds had been successful, his team commissioned BOC to upgrade the VIEs at all three sites; a key element was increasing vaporiser output to 3000 L/min on all three. He said: “We had also been keen to be able to properly
measure and monitor the oxygen flow exiting the VIE, and as part of its upgrade work for us, BOC supplied us with the Flexim ultrasonic flowmeters, which use transducers robustly attached to the outer wall of the copper piping to measure dynamic oxygen flow using the Delta T principle (see HEJ - January 2021). Initially, however, this still meant engineers having to visit each flowmeter several times per day to take a reading. We were keen to find a less labour-intensive and time-consuming means of obtaining regular flow rate and line pressure readings, and decided to talk to SHJ, with whom we have a long- standing relationship. Stafford Scopes noted our requirements, and SHJ developed the new compact FLO2 all, SHJ supplied us with four FLO2
units. In boxes
for use across the three sites – a number of the ‘boxes’ gather readings from more than one Flexim flowmeter. The boxes,” Shane King explained, “are wall-mounted close to the flowmeters, and connect to them via a collector box. Readings of oxygen flow rate
Shane King, head of Estates Operations at Imperial Healthcare NHS Trust, was concerned last Spring as to whether the VIEs at the Trust’s three main hospitals – St Mary’s in Paddington, Charing Cross Hospital in Fulham, and Hammersmith Hospital (pictured below) – would have sufficient flow capacity if COVID-19 patient numbers significantly increased.
and line pressure are taken every five seconds and transmitted wirelessly to the SHJ server. We can then closely monitor the flow rates and line pressures at all three sites via our K’nect portal, and spot any particular trends or anomalies – such as sudden increases in flow, or falls in line pressure. The FLO2
units have really
benefited us by eliminating the need for engineers to go out and take readings, we have instantaneous data, and the software enables us to compare current flow rates and line pressures with those from the previous day, week, or month, giving us confidence that we will spot any potential issues with supply before they become a significant problem.
“We do also,” Shane King explained, “have a number of hard- wired connections from the flowmeters via modems to our BMS, but on occasion that system has failed due to connection errors, whereas the FLO2
boxes have
proven extremely reliable. Their linking to the SHJ servers, and our ability to then view the data in real time, is a big plus. Any of our authorised users can view the K’nect portal not only from their desk, but also remotely, anywhere with an Internet connection. The SHJ system will also send text or email alerts to designated Trust Estates and clinical management personnel should the embedded AI identify a potential issue on the oxygen infrastructure developing.”
June 2021 Health Estate Journal 37
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