BMI agrees 12-year Vanguard contract

BMI Healthcare has two established facilities that are already fully compliant with the Department of Health’s new National Minimum Standard for decontamination and management of surgical instrumentation. These are located in Scotland and the north west of England, providing integrated services for six of its hospitals with three more hospitals coming on stream in 2007.

Under the new contract, Vanguard’s UK subsidiary, SterilPlus, will develop four additional new-build, high technology centres in north Kent, north west London, south west London and Birmingham. The national network will, together, provide fully compliant clinical sterile services to all 49 BMI Healthcare hospitals and will have capacity to also serve public and private sector hospitals beyond those owned and run by BMI Healthcare.

Commenting on the contract, Jonathan Simpson-Dent, finance director of General Healthcare Group, of which BMI Healthcare is part, said: “Vanguard has an excellent track record in developing and delivering the highest quality, large-scale services that will be an essential and integral part of our own clinical services to patients and consultants. We will integrate our own existing services as part of the long-term contract, providing an unparalleled national system that will include full traceability and tracking for each surgical instrument.”