PNEUMATIC TUBE SYSTEMS
It is rather like driving a car with the warning indicators illuminated. Yes, the car may continue to drive – but that does not mean it is safe to do so.
New Hospital Programme – BMS integration The New Hospital Programme requires a far more advanced interface with the pneumatic tube system control system. Without doubt, this will provide a much more centralised monitoring facility for personnel working within the Command & Control Centre. But unless the people monitoring – and potentially reacting to – faults relayed by the PTS are familiar with the system itself, the new interface remains little more than an alarm bell. It is no more informative than medical staff calling the helpdesk to say that the PTS is not working. That situation can be improved through training. Many faults can be resolved simply by understanding
what the system is reporting. A call to a ward or department may solve that the problem which is a user issue, such as an overfilled basket or another straightforward obstruction. The challenge becomes greater when the control
system servers themselves are located within tray-mounted stacking modules in the Command & Control Centre. This raises practical questions about how FM personnel and PPM contractors will access the PTS control system and, importantly, who will have responsibility for responding to the information it provides. FM teams need access at all times, as will the PPM contractor. Traditionally, a control computer located within the main
hub or plantroom has been a practical solution. It provides direct access to the system where the equipment itself is located, rather than placing the primary point of access in a remote control room. System or mechanical faults require two things:
analysis and reaction. Clear lines of responsibility and demarcation are therefore needed to prevent somebody in a control room simply resetting faults to get a zone running again. In many cases, unless the underlying problem has been addressed, the fault will simply repeat. There is arguably no greater practical advantage in having access to the PTS control system from a Command
Pneumatic tube systems have been used in hospitals for many years, historically beginning with very simple, single-line systems connecting two departments – for example, the Emergency Department and the laboratory.
& Control Centre than there is through a secure remote connection when it comes to gathering diagnostics. The important issue is not where the screen is located. It is whether the person looking at it understands what they are seeing and knows what action should be taken. Otherwise, it remains only an alarm.
Alarm interpretation Having answered many thousands of calls to our around- the-clock PTS helpline for hospital clients, one thing has become particularly noticeable: nothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood. Our instructions when calling for assistance are clear.
We need a description of the problem and, importantly, what is being displayed on the control system. If a zone or station is in fault, the real-time software indicates why the section has been suspended and where the fault is occurring. But if the call comes through a hospital helpdesk rather
than directly from FM, we can sometimes get what might be called the ‘A&E syndrome’. A&E has one of the most heavily used PTS stations in a
hospital, particularly within A&E Majors. This single station can contribute between 20 and 35 per cent of site-wide traffic flow because of two factors: the number of samples being taken and the fact that A&E operates 24/7. If an A&E staff member sees an alarm on their PTS station, they may call the hospital helpdesk and report that the A&E station is broken.
November 2026 Health Estate Journal 45
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