MEDICAL GAS SYSTEMS
compressors earlier.” The new K’nect portal will also now display all the service and training records of SHJ’s engineers, and comprehensive compliance information. In future, the aim is to provide more real-time data on plant performance.
Stafford Scopes added: “In making more data viewable, we have listened to our customers, taking account of their feedback on additional features they would like to see. The end-goal remains the same – to ensure that our customers’ medical gas systems run optimally, with maximum reliability, minimal downtime, and in a way that reduces energy consumption, and for any issues to be identified and addressed well before they impact on performance.”
Meeting KPIs
James Forgan said: “With many customers’ medical gas systems, we have to meet Key Performance Indicators. Having discussed with the customer its parameters at the outset, we can then set up the system to monitor records, attendance, and travel times. Every healthcare customer is different, and although NHS Trust estates and engineering teams all work to HTM 02-01, they often require different things. Some customers, for instance, only require Planned Preventative Maintenance, and not servicing. They will thus only be able to see, via K’nect, the maintenance work we have undertaken on their plant.”
Confidentiality of data Confidentiality of data is a key consideration today, and Matthew Sealy explained that in holding and using customer data, SHJ abides by the principles of ‘Confidentiality’, ‘Availability’, and ‘Integrity’. He elaborated: “The ‘Confidentiality’ aspect means that we only allow access to the portal to specific people, while the ‘Integrity’ element relates to whether data has been changed
Business Systems manager, Matthew Sealy, has spearheaded the development of both the Enforce ‘intelligent’ plant control system, and the complementary Emanate Artificial Intelligence-driven data management and analysis software, alongside Professor Gaoyong Luo. The latter – a Professor of Communications at both Brunel University in the UK, and Guangzhou University in China – is an acknowledged expert in 21st century communications technology.
unjustifiably, or even potentially fraudulently, to try to ‘fool’ the customer. These principles apply not just to medical gases, but to all IT systems today. We have had early iterations of K’nect for 10 years, and the system is still evolving today. We have a ‘live’ version, and a list of desired features to add. It’s a constant development cycle. Another of our plans,” he explained, “is to link the Knowledge Base we are building up to K’nect.” Stafford Scopes said: “Currently, if one of our engineers changes the safety valves on a medical gas system, we will have it on record, but in future, should a Trust engineer want to change the valves, they will be able to upload that data to the portal. They will also be able to add details of staff training records, information on contractors (such as their membership of CHAS), insurance details, and unique tax references, and to incorporate a list of
personnel associated with particular plant, along with emergency and useful phone numbers, details of Operational Policy, quarterly test certificates, and records of QC visits. I think that as an agile, medium- sized British company, with field-leading IT expertise, we are some way ahead of our competitors here.”
Proving compliance
Operations director, Phil Hudson (left), is a former NHS Estates and Facilities director. Shaukat Ali (right), Installation and Commissioning manager, who originally joined the company as a Maintenance technician, aged 19, ‘straight from college’.
24 Health Estate Journal April 2020
Here SHJ’s Operations director, Phil Hudson, a former NHS Trust Estates director, said, anecdotally: “When, as an Estates director, I met up with other Estates personnel, I was often asked: ‘What keeps you awake at night?’ I invariably answered ‘Proving compliance’. The first thing that happens when anything goes wrong is that everybody wants to see the records. It’s no good you simply having a feeling you are doing things right; you have to be able to prove it. It’s the same with visits from the CQC; when they descend on you, there is a tendency for everybody to panic and look for records, whereas if you have a system like K’nect, you simply log on and show the relevant personnel the appropriate data. You don’t have to worry about finding files somewhere on a shelf.” Matthew Sealy explained, as an interesting discussion concluded, that, to make access to K’nect as ‘universal’ as possible, SHJ is now developing iOS and Android ‘apps’, so that users do not need to use a web browser to view the portal. All in all, my second visit to SHJ proved as interesting as the first; the medical gas specialist is clearly proud of how far it has come, and, as the day’s discussions had made clear, the pace of innovation at the Buckinghamshire-based firm shows no sign of slowing.
hej
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