Cover story - advertising feature
Striking a balance in theatres
As pressure mounts to tackle the NHS patient backlog, global medical device manufacturer, Mindray explores how its A9 anaesthetic machine is helping anaesthetists effectively tackle the backlog while enhancing patient safety and reducing environmental impact.
Referral to treatment figures for October 2024 show that the NHS waiting list stood at 7.54 million cases.1
To deal with this backlog, the NHS
has set up surgical hubs across the country to streamline patient assessment, treatment and recovery. With more surgeries, comes more anaesthesia use, but theatres already account for 50%-70% of total hospital waste.2
How can
we treat more patients without compounding environmental impact? And what tools could help anaesthetists manage the cognitive load and enhance patient safety?
Keeping more patients safe In the 2024 Autumn budget, the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) was granted £22.6 billion, to deliver an additional 40,000 elective appointments a week.3
The cardiac surgery
unit at Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (LHCH) is one of the busiest in the country, treating just under 2,000 patients per year.4
Last year, it installed a new fleet of
Mindray A9 anaesthesia workstations. Dr. Omar Al-Rawi, Clinical Lead for Anaesthesia, is the Consultant Anaesthetist who led the procurement: “We were looking for new anaesthetic machines to replace our previous fleet. Key features for our workflow were enhanced safety, reliability, ease of use and connectivity to electronic patient records. “There are lots of features on the A9 that
make a big difference for patient safety while helping alleviate some of the cognitive load for anaesthetists. A useful feature for our practice is Flowpause which allows us to safely stop ventilation during surgery and automatically restart after an adjustable period. In the past that was done manually with the risk of the machine being left off and the alarms staying silent. This tool provides an essential safety measure for patients requiring surgery and intermittent ventilation. “In the cardiology catheter lab the A9 display can be connected to a remote monitor to
www.clinicalservicesjournal.com Volume 24 I Issue 2 I February 2025
THE CLINICAL SERVICES JOURNAL
Global update on infection prevention and control
OneTogether: the mission to reduce SSIs Medical device testing: why diversity matters
provide clear patient anaesthesia data at the workstation in the lead proof zone. This enhances safety of anaesthesia in a non-theatre environment which has restricted access to the anaesthetic monitoring. Furthermore, we are excited about introducing the concept of the remote-control function of the A9 anaesthetic machines, once approval is obtained from the regulatory bodies. “The automation of the ACA and low flow
provides seamless accurate titration of depth of anaesthesia at low flow without the need to manually adjust the gas flow, volatile agent and oxygen level to reach the target level. We’re expecting to see reduced consumption of anaesthetic gases from this and plan to use the Mindray M-IoT system to track inventory and usage going forward. This will then deliver both an environmental and financial benefit.” To ensure the correct patient data is available and updated, Trusts are digitising data flows between monitoring devices and electronic patient record systems. Communication failures occur in approximately 30% of procedural communications in the OR,5
data visibility throughout the patient journey, minimising risks and improving patient care. Dr. Al-Rawi continues, “One of the key things
for us was that the A9 could support our charting which automatically takes data from the anaesthesia machine and patient monitors to create an electronic anaesthesia record. The Mindray team have been very responsive getting the A9 machines integrated.”
Andi Richardson, Anaesthesia & Ventilation Product Specialist from Mindray with one of the A9 systems at Castle Hill Hospital.
6
www.clinicalservicesjournal.com I February 2025
Greener anaesthesia delivery The NHS is committed to reach Net Zero by 2040, with an ambition to reach an 80% reduction by 2028-2032.6
Currently, around 2% of all NHS emissions can be attributed to anaesthetic and
, but connected workflows allow greater
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65
