B ED SPACE MANAGEMENT
A better way to deliver healthcare MTM is a healthcare delivery partner, which works with healthcare organisations to identify and provide service efficiencies in clinical bed space management. It aims to help healthcare organisations develop control mechanisms that bring the existing siloed support groups under a single defined, functional, high performing team designed to deliver support services to the patient bed space. The dedicated, high performance bedspace team created, unites all stakeholders to meet clear targets, with agreed timescales.
One team, one mission, one method By unifying the different entities and silos currently involved in the delivery of services to the bed space (including nursing, medical engineering, porters, estates and facilities, bed stores and equipment libraries) and creating one focused team under a single management structure, a system can be introduced that allows each group to focus on delivery of their core skills with performance targets.
The bed space team is created by working with each individual organisation to meet their exact needs. Where necessary, MTM can provide additional temporary or permanent staff, and any relevant training required to deliver an efficient, effective service, ensuring that operational service and decontamination targets can be met and improved.
Better patient care and throughput Ensuring the right equipment is in the right place for each patient makes admission quicker, and treatment and care more efficient.
The bedspace team will work with clinicians to agree which beds, mattresses and equipment are required in the patient bed space. All of this is then delivered clean, by the bed space team prior to patient admission. The team can also provide equipment user training and update all records using existing systems or MTM’s own software package. On patient discharge, the bed space is cleared of all equipment,
cleaned and all the collected equipment is decontaminated, checked for correct function, PPM completed and stored ready for use.
Better equipment storage Anyone walking into a hospital will have seen the lines of empty beds and trollies trailing through the walkways and corridors. Many have labels on them showing them to be unserviceable, none are covered, raising doubts of their cleanliness status, and nearly all are in fire lanes and evacuation routes. Certainly, they do not give a good impression to visitors.
How they come to be there is complex. The development of improved care pathways for patients at risk of falls and bariatric patients have meant that healthcare organisations require specialist beds within their fleet, but how many? The numbers fluctuate due to clinical need, but healthcare real estate is much less flexible and storage space, always at a premium, has been further stretched during the pandemic by the need to store increased levels of PPE and other key items.
A more controlled approach to management of bed space technology enables much of the excess equipment to be stored off site and brought in as necessary should clinical demand increase. This is not simply a case of finding a warehouse
MTM introduced a simple refined process for equipment management that has resulted in a saving of £100k which is an annual spend reduction of 50%. The changes made have also improved patient access to specialist equipment by removing delays in equipment delivery.
SEPTEMBER 2021
somewhere and filling it with unwanted equipment, since that makes redeployment time consuming and costly. Rather, any off-site storage must form part of the service delivery mechanism and so should be available 24/7 and all the equipment stored ready for use.
More effective time management Nursing staff lose up to 60 minutes of non-clinical time organising, cleaning, and checking equipment between patients. In a 400-bed hospital with an average ward patient length of stay (LOS) of 10 days, that equates to 14,400 hours per year lost to non-clinical tasks. In an ITU environment where the LOS can be as short as 24 hours the potential time savings are even greater.
Better use of resources By creating a single service budget line, system controls can be implemented on purchase, usage and hiring of equipment and a co-ordinated, holistic patient focused approach adopted. By means of a co- ordinated tracking system equipment can be more easily located, monitored, and maintained, so it can be in the right place at the right time. Any equipment not needed, not being used, or in the wrong place will be removed and stored by the bed space team, removing unnecessary clutter from the clinical areas.
Affordable sustainability MTM works with finance, procurement and HR to create a new budget line and staff structure which clearly defines and costs bed space management as a service. This is often achievable within existing budgeted resources and will inevitably result in the reduction of uncontrolled spending in this area.
MTM targets the management of the extended supply chain, reduces uncontrolled spend on unnecessary specialist equipment. By understanding where every item of
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