HEALTH SECTOR NEWS
Medical gas alarm panel with ‘Call hospital engineer’ function
A new medical gas alarm panel incorporating a ‘Call hospital engineer’ feature to summon help from healthcare engineering personnel should, for instance, gas pressure become concerningly low in any part of a hospital, was unveiled by Shire Controls at this year’s Healthcare Estates exhibition. Designed to monitor high and low pipeline pressure for up to six gases, and developed by the company over the last two years, the new panel was demonstrated on the Shire Controls stand by the company’s founder and MD, Cliff Caswell, and his colleagues, Greg Gardiner and Tony Hill. He explained: “We began developing the new SAX-D panel before the COVID-19 outbreak, but became acutely aware of the oxygen issues some hospitals were encountering during the pandemic. The new alarm panel is very much tailored to ensuring that healthcare engineering personnel on hospital sites are made aware of low gas pressure before it becomes a significant patient safety threat. “For the first time,” he continued,
“we have incorporated a ‘Call hospital engineer’ function with indicator light, which will show when pressure reaches a user-preset low level. When the light activates, nursing or other clinical personnel will know they must alert a healthcare engineer immediately, so the engineer can identify the reason for the
NTH Solutions launches ‘intelligent thermostat’ for aircon units
pressure drop, and the location, and act before it becomes a more significant problem. In the past we know of nurses seeing a low pressure warning on the alarm panel and not knowing what to do.” The new SAX-D also features a Modbus
communication interface, allowing the panel to download information directly to a hospital’s Ethernet, and to connect to its BMS. Bluetooth functionality, and a dedicated ‘app’, enable adjustment of line pressures wirelessly from any on-site location within range via a mobile phone or laptop. Cliff Caswell added: “By using pressure transducers, we can preset all the alarms just before we ship the panel, which means hospital engineers will spend less time making adjustments on site. Hospitals with one of our existing SAX-6 alarm panels can also link these to the SAX-D, and when they feel it’s time to upgrade, but have limited funds, can replace their main or central alarm panel with the new alarm panel, and then drive the old ‘repeater’ unit from it.”
Framework will see electronic devices repaired
The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Commercial
Procurement Services has awarded public sector specialist, Kingsfield
IT, to its new National Framework Agreement, ‘to provide a sustainable and cost-effective method for extending the lifecycle of electronic devices to workers across the UK’. In this new framework, the Trust
says Kingsfield will ‘provide crucial repairs over the next four years – ensuring access to essential services for thousands of frontline workers across not only the Chester Hospital, but the entire NHS and wider public sector’. The National Framework Agreement for the provision of Refurbished Electronic Devices and Repair Services is reportedly the UK’s first of its kind. Kingsfield has been awarded a place on
14 Health Estate Journal November 2022
lot one: ‘Repair Services’, making the company ‘a one-stop-shop’ for public sector workers in need of repairs to mobile electronic devices.
Kingsfield MD, Brian Boys, said: “We’re
delighted to have been awarded a place on this framework, and believe it will support so many hospital Trusts, councils, and blue light services, countrywide. All repairs will then be covered with an appropriate warranty. Our team will also offer access to loan devices under this agreement. Our support will help significantly reduce the environmental impact caused by a high device turnover. In the long term, we aim to save the public sector thousands by maintaining its existing IT estate to ensure a lengthy lifespan, as opposed to buying or upgrading equipment more frequently.”
NTH Solutions, an NHS subsidiary of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, has piloted an ‘intelligent thermostat’ – Coolnomix – that attaches to air-conditioning units to help improve their efficiency. NTH says using the system has reduced its daily energy consumption by 33%, and it is now launching it UK-wide, with the offer of a free pilot, with ‘no fee and no obligation’, to other Trusts. It said: “With its patented algorithm, Coolnomix will be available to the NHS through NTH Solutions in the UK, and can be attached to existing air-conditioning units, without the need for full replacements, to help reduce energy consumed and CO2
emitted.”
Coolnomix interacts with the compressor, using temperature sensors to reduce its run-time. NTH Solutions said: “An air-conditioning unit fitted with Coolnomix provides a noticeable reduction in carbon footprint and running costs, without compromising performance. Several pilots across various NHS Trusts have shown an immediate impact, and typically a
30% reduction in energy
consumption, while with NTH
being NHS-owned, income can be reinvested into patient care.” Steve Taylor, the Trust’s head of Estates & Facilities, said: “Like many others, North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust has an ageing estate and limited capital funding, so this product caught our eye as a low-cost, retrofittable energy-saving solution. The energy savings made on our trial areas were beyond our expectations. I think this is a great low-cost product that can help us on our journey to improve energy efficiency and achieve Net Zero carbon.”
When Coolnomix is fitted, it is not switched on immediately, and can thus monitor the user’s energy usage and set a benchmark. On being switched on, the device shows the difference it is making in real time via readings on its app. With its patented energy regulating algorithm, Coolnomix ‘ensures no dip in performance, and does not interrupt service when fitted’.
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