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HEALTH SECTOR NEWS Medstor helps Centre to prepare ‘for vital role’
Medstor has recently installed specialist storage and materials management solutions as part of a major upgrade of the cytopathology department at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital’s (NNUH) Cotman Centre, preparing it for its new role as one of eight laboratories across England responsible for implementing the amended NHS Cervical Screening Programme.
Following UK National Screening Committee recommendations for the NHS Cervical Screening Programme in England, cytology (until recently the first test performed on all screening samples) has now been replaced by Primary Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Screening. HPV causes over 99% of all cervical cancers, and NHS England says this process will identify more women at risk, potentially preventing around 600 cases of cervical cancer annually. To maintain quality standards for the NHS Cervical Screening programme, laboratory services covering larger geographical areas and populations have been introduced, with the Cotman Centre serving the East of England.
the workbench surfaces had to be flame- retardant to comply with fire regulations. To meet this requirement, Medstor sourced specially treated Trespa panels, which were then incorporated into the design.
The screening changes will see the number of smear tests the Centre processes up from 90,000 to 450,000 annually. Medstor has played an important part in preparing the laboratory for this increase, helping to deliver an upgraded infrastructure to handle the samples safely and efficiently. The refurbishment will also help ensure a comfortable, positive, and productive working atmosphere.
The cytology team worked with Medstor’s in-house design department and the hospital Estates team to develop specialist workbenches with integral shelving and drawer space, suitable for standing or sitting stools, ensuring maximum user comfort. The laboratory features a roller shutter wall hatch, so
Medstor also provided high-density cabinets able to store, label, and access thousands of samples safely with maximum space utilisation, as the 50 mm trays were the perfect size for the smear test slides. Alongside providing several new cabinets, Medstor updated existing laboratory cabinets with the addition of a new liner system.
Medstor says the storage solutions for the Centre are typical of the ‘highly effective products’ it designs for healthcare facilities worldwide. It said: “Every element of each racking system or cabinet has beautifully simple, clean, sleek lines that complement the theatre or ward design, and offer increased storage capacity, better cost efficiency through improved stock control, and dramatically enhanced infection control.” Everything Medstor makes is designed and built ‘in-house’ in the UK, so quality is controlled ‘from start to finish’.
Keeping water systems safe during the coronavirus outbreak ESGLI, the ESCMID (European Society
of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases) Study Group for Legionella Infections, has recently published guidance designed to help personnel such as healthcare engineers and healthcare estates managers keep water systems safe during the current COVID-19 outbreak.
The guidance is aimed at ‘hospitals,
temporary and converted buildings, or parts of buildings and field hospitals used for treating COVID-19 patients’. ESGLI points out that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic ‘has a significant potential to increase the risks of waterborne infections, including Legionnaire’s disease, over and above the inherent public health impact of the pandemic’. The organisation said: “It is therefore essential that
appropriate testing of both water systems and patients is carried out to protect both patients and staff from unrecognised outbreaks of waterborne infections, including Legionnaires’ disease.”
The guidance is viewable at:
https://www.escmid.org/research_ projects/study_groups/legionella_ infections
NG Bailey joins partners to develop Harrogate facility NG Bailey is continuing to play its part
in supporting national efforts to combat the COVID-19 epidemic as part of the team that has transformed Harrogate Convention Centre into an NHS Nightingale hospital to serve Yorkshire and Humberside.
Housing 500 hospital beds, NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire & the Humber was the first of the emergency ICU field hospitals created outside a major city to help address the rising number of coronavirus cases. ‘From a standing start’, NG Bailey prototyped and produced a suite of bespoke solutions – including 500 prefabricated
bedhead power, and 440 pipework module, units, and 70 prefabricated hot water modules.
The company says its use of offsite manufacturing to construct key components for the hospital was critical to the success of the installation, enabling rapid production of equipment while maintaining safe social distancing measures. Some 150 people worked ‘around the clock’ on site installing the medical gas, pipework, and power equipment.
As part of the project, NG Bailey has produced and installed over 19 kms of pipework, 3,500 socket outlets, and 70 water heating/sink modules. With
logistics driven from its Bradford offsite manufacturing base, items were manufactured, delivered, and often installed, on the same day. The independent engineering and services business has worked closely with the NHS, the Ministry of Defence, and BAM Construction.
May 2020 Health Estate Journal 15
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