When Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust sought to standardise its patient monitoring systems it was driven by the aspiration to be paperless by 2020 and have continuous visibility of data throughout the patient journey. Their search led them to Mindray’s solutions.
With its continual drive to provide safe, clean and personal care for patients, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust is one of the highest performing Trusts in the country.
The Trust’s dedicated staff of 7000 provide hospital, community, primary and social care services to the City of Salford and specialist services to Greater Manchester and beyond. The Trust was the first in the North of England to achieve an Outstanding rating – the highest rating given – by the Care Quality Commission.
Salford Royal also has over a 40-year history as a University Teaching Trust, training and educating a broad range of clinicians.
When the Trust sought to improve its 20 year old patient monitoring system, there were several issues to address. Previously, transferring patients between theatres and recovery unmonitored posed an avoidable risk, and there was limited visibility of patient data between departments. Primarily, the Trust required a monitoring system that could be transported with patients from theatres through to recovery.
Three healthcare suppliers were chosen and, following a robust selection process, the decision was made quickly when Mindray demonstrated its unique range of products and support. According to Salford Royal’s medical devices manager, Satpal Singh, it was an invaluable exercise to establish what other options were available in the market, rather than sticking to the status quo.
“Re-standardising is essential for us, as the patient journey - and the collection of that data - had to become seamless for the future,” he explained. Any information that we gather on that journey should be deposited in one place using one platform. We wanted it from the front door of A&E all the way through to the theatres, recovery, intensive care, and surgical wards. These were the drivers that informed the procurement process.”
Supplier engagement event
Salford began a Trust-wide procurement project, and a rolling programme over a three year period across the whole hospital - phase one beginning in theatres. Satpal noted that compliance and value for money were key considerations. “Whatever we invested in we had to think about the north west and not just Salford,” he said. “We are a large teaching hospital, we get a lot of trainees coming through this organisation, so we wanted to invest in a capable supplier that could support this.”
“We arranged a supplier engagement date, with key stakeholders, with the suppliers presenting to a team comprising clinicians, procurement managers and technical experts, from all key departments. In all there were around 20 people in the room that day.” All suppliers were from the compliant NHS Supply Chain Framework, giving Salford Royal assurance that winning bidder was compliant with UK and EU regulations.
The trials for the theatre patient monitoring were held in December 2017, and Mindray was seen as the rank outsider as the company had not previously worked with the Trust. The trial was comprehensive and held over a three week period, the first week in theatres, the second in A&E and the last in heart care and EAU. Mindray had a team of clinical application specialists on hand throughout. Satpal observed: “By the end of the presentations, there was already a unanimous view that, from what we’d seen so far, in terms of the concept and capabilities, Mindray was a strong supplier.”
Clinical evaluations
An evaluation period then commenced, with all three suppliers’ products being trialled across theatres, intensive care and A&E – all of which were decisive departments in the process. “Most of the positive feedback we received was regarding the image quality of the Mindray BeneVision N series solution which was described as ‘absolutely fantastic’. One staff member even stated: ‘This will revolutionise the way the Trust monitors patients.’
“After the clinical evaluations the companies were invited to quote for the business. Mindray won on clinical, technical and price, scoring the highest in all categories, and it was awarded the Trust wide business via the NHS Supply Chain Framework in January 2018.”
Consultant anaesthetist, Dr Joe Sebastian, was among the key decisions makers and is delighted with both the products and service provided by Mindray: “The monitoring and compatibility is far superior to what we had,” he said. “The integration of various technologies into one monitor makes data easily visible and theatres tidier. In a theatre it’s vital to ensure that everything is kept as simple as possible, and this has been greatly enhanced by having all the data visible in one clear display.
“There is limited space in theatres and induction rooms, but because the Mindray solution is a modular system with one central view, this has helped us to save costs on accessories and enabled us to take out surplus equipment. By streamlining, all the solutions are available in one monitoring system – a benefit to clinicians and ultimately improving efficiency, safety and patient outcomes.”
Mindray’s BeneVision N22 and N19 patient monitors are now implemented in the anaesthetic room and the main theatres. With its 1680 x 1050 pixels 22-inch screen, BeneVision N22 has a perfect split layout in portrait display. The modular design and flexibility enables the systems to rotate between landscape and portrait, and the iView module combines an embedded PC and the patient monitor in the same unit. The design optimises cooling without the need for a fan.
With the platinum multi-parameter platform, the N1’s optional fully integrated sidestream CO2 module monitors the patient’s respiratory status, negating the need for additional modules for transporting patients, particularly those who are intubated.
Products and service provision
“What attracted me to Mindray was the Benevision N22,” said Dr Joe Sebastian.
“It looked so much better than the other products – especially the graphics. Because Mindray was a relative ‘newcomer’, they were very keen to get the business - they were hungry - and this was clear when I asked about guarantees, Mindray offered the longest warranty out of all of the suppliers. One of my concerns was about the N1 mini monitor what would happen if it was dropped. Mindray reassured me about its robustness, saying they would honour our partnership with a replacement and/or repairs.
Mindray monitoring is now fully functional across 20 theatres and the staff have engaged with the training and commissioning, provided by Mindray over a four week period.
The Trust placed its phase two order in December 2018 for its ICU, A&E, EAU and Heart care centre. The third and final phase will be ordered in 2019 for all vital signs and three lead ECG ward monitoring. Salford at that point will be a fully standardised Mindray patient monitoring site. Salford hopes to achieve its aspiration of connecting the monitors to the patient record system later in the year, with a view to being paperless by 2020.
Satpal concluded: “The partnership is a success and the relationships are healthy. There’s nothing we’ve asked for that hasn’t been delivered. It’s been an extremely good relationship.”
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