James Cook University Hospital
CASE STUDY: James Cook University Hospital & Major Trauma Centre
Major trauma centre reaps the benefits with an Endoscopy Decontamination unit designed to optimise throughput.
The James Cook University Hospital and Major Trauma Centre were looking to replace their current endoscope washer disinfectors (EWDs) as their existing EWDs were coming to the end of their life. The requirement was to future-proof the service to cover more patients by increasing capacity within the current footprint.
iM Med’s range of Steelco EWDs provided James Cook with a choice of machines which each have different scope capacities. This means James Cook maximise their existing space and increase their though-put with an EWD for one scope, an EWD for two scopes and an EWD for three scopes.
The James Cook University Hospital is a major trauma centre for the North East, as well as an orthopaedic hospital, infirmary and general hospital. The sterile services division, running the endoscopy decontamination for the Trust, needed new endoscope washer disinfectors, as their existing machines were nearing end of life.
Sue Shannon, Head of Sterilisation & Decontamination at The James Cook University Hospital explains: “The age of our existing washers meant they were no longer supported and we were on second-hand parts for a number of them. “We really had big challenges because we couldn’t get support engineer-wise or part-wise. If we hadn’t swapped over to the new Steelco washers I think we would have really started failing patients.”
“I’d seen the Steelco washers in hospitals in Ireland and they had the Endoscope basket system in place there,” Sue continues. “I hadn’t even thought about washing scopes on baskets, I didn’t even know then that that was possible. So we put that in our infection control and our decontamination groups supported that to be a requirement for the specification of the washers.”
“The service has been excellent. The best I have ever known and I have been in the industry over 44 years. ”
Choice of decontamination equipment.
iM Med installed three different EWDs, the Steelco EW1S rapid-wash Maxi with the capacity for one-scope, the Steelco EW2 2S with a capacity for two-scopes, and the Steelco EW2 3S with a capacity for three-scopes. This helps the team at James cook achieve a better workflow as they have a machine that will do three scopes, a machine that will do two scopes and a machine that will do one scope very quickly.
“We would recommend the Steelco washers 100%,” says Sue. “The Steelco washers had the best ratings and came in at the best price through the supply chain. They give us the capacity to get more scopes through and batch process them on such a scale.”
iM Med Steelco focus on maximising safety, optimising processes and minimising costs. The state of the art decontamination equipment provides both choice and flexibility, which means Trusts get a tailor-made advance technical solution with automation integration options to guarantee workflow optimisation, maximum efficiency and truly reliable results.
One-time endoscope connection system.
James Cook has also taken advantage of the Steelco unique OCS technology, a one-time connection system shared between prewashing, washing disinfection and drying and storage. The endoscopes are connected once minimising operator handling of the scopes in all the phases of the process, which significantly decreases the risk of contamination and the possibility of human errors.
“The OCS is so easy to use. All the team really love them,” says Theresa.
“We are working safer as staff,” explains Sue. “The actual manual handling for our staff is a lot less. We also previously had a lot of wrist and shoulder injuries trying to cage the scopes on the old washers, which now doesn’t occur”
UK Manufactured peracetic acid.
The Trust is also supporting its sustainability commitment as the Steelco EWDs not only deliver reliability and durability, but also reduce water and energy consumption. Alongside this, James Cook use iM Med’s chemistries which are the only peracetic acid for washer disinfectors that is manufactured in the UK, further helping James Cook reduce their carbon footprint.
“With the iM Med chemistries we have found that we don’t have to change the chemistries as often, so we are getting much more runs out of the bottles,” says Theresa. “When we do need to re order, it is delivered straight away.”
“We’ve never had a supply problem, never had any shortages and we’ve proven it’s cheaper,” explains Sue.
iM Med supply decontamination facilities across the country with their AED approved chemistry. By choosing a chemistry manufactured in the UK, Trusts can add to their ongoing environmental targets and carbon footprint reduction by selecting UK manufactured rather than imported chemistry.
Technical services.
Theresa Harrison, Endoscopy Decontamination Manager at The James Cook University Hospital says: “The service has been excellent. The best I have ever known and I have been in the industry over 44 years. The trainers and engineers have shown us what to look for and do when there is a fault, so we can more often than not sort things ourselves. If not, we call the iM Med office and they get an engineer on the phone or out to us really quickly if needed. The communication is great and the reports are sent out to us without any delays.”
Henrik Nielsen, Northern Territory Manager at iM Med explains: “We tailored a service contract for James Cook around their specific requirements. This is something iM Med do for all customers, as all departments are different with their own unique ways of operating. James Cook also have a dedicated log in to the iM customer service portal, where they can immediately access all their reports when they need them.”
iM Med technical services focuses on reducing downtime and they offer a range of service and maintenance packages to meet all budgets. This has been shown to deliver guaranteed cost savings, with reliable, compliant quality. Validation ensures processes are in compliance with relevant standards and are related directly to parameters defined during the design and type testing of the EWD. iM Med reports 90% first-time fix and also guarantees 95% up-time.
iM Academy Training.
Following the installation, iM Med’s academy delivered training to the James Cook endoscopy department on all the new Steelco EWDs and the one connection system.
Lee Jack, Senior Application Support Specialist at iM Med explains: “The training iM Academy delivers focuses on how to use the equipment, and how to use it safely and confidently to deliver safe devices to patients.”
“We really liked that you got evidence of training, we had never had certificates before,” says Sue. “We liked that there were workbooks to work through and get signed off, showing machine competency. Everyone has had the training which means we’ve got 100% provable competency rate on the Steelco machines.”
The iM Med training academy supports Trusts to drive improvement, reduce downtime and ensure compliance. The training through the iM Academy is built into service contracts and is part of the planned, preventative maintenance strategy. When the training is dovetailed into the service, operator errors that result in breakdowns are significantly reduced.
Summarising the iM Med project and the selection of the three Steelco endoscope washer disinfectors, Sue explains: “It has made us safer and more reliable and it has improved patient safety. We’ve got a lot more confidence that we are providing clean scopes. I’ve found this the most successful installation and renewal of machinery we’ve done. iM Med has been brilliant.”
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