Health Business 20.4

ISSUE 20.4 www.healthbusinessuk.net

RECRUITMENT

SCAN4SAFETY

CYBER SECURITY

2019

HB AWARDS

REWARDING THE EFFORTS OF OUR NHS Why recognising the success stories from the health service is more important this year than ever before.

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Comment

ISSUE 20.4 www.healthbusinessuk.net

RECRUITMENT

SCAN4SAFETY

CYBER SECURITY

2019

HB AWARDS

REWARDING THE EFFORTS OF OUR NHS Why recognising the success stories from the health service is more important this year than ever before.

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Innovating + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + the + +Debt + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Recovery + + + + + Process + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +www.debtrecoveryplus.co.uk + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + PLUS: COMMUNICATIONS | ERGONOMICS | FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

Vaccine judged safe and NHS success celebrated As we print, the news that the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine gaining approval is still fresh, providing hope for NHS staff up and down the country.

The first doses of the jab, which offers up to 95 per cent protection against Covid-19 illness, are already on their way to the UK, with 800,000 due this week. Health and care staff are high in the order of who receives the vaccination first, alongside elderly people in care homes and care home staff.

Whilst the Prime Minister is right to warn against over optimism, the announcement that the UK has become the first country in the world to approve the coronavirus vaccine is undoubtedly very welcome good news.

On the topic of good news, the Health Business Awards return next week (10 December) where an online ceremony, a first for the event, will reveal the winning NHS organisations and their success stories across 18 categories. The two standout categories are the Outstanding Achievement in Healthcare Award and the new COVID Response Award.

We list all of the shortlisted organisations on pages 15-21. Congratulations to all who have been recognised and best of luck for the 10 December.

Follow and interact with us on Twitter: @HealthBusiness_

Michael Lyons, editor

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Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Contents

Contents Health Business 20.4 07 News

65 Ergonomics

15 HB Awards

73 Scan4Safety

UK authorises Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine; patients waiting too long for mental health therapy; £500 bonus for Scottish health and social care staff; and more GPs to receive electronic notifications of flu vaccinations

15

2019

30

The 2020 Health Business Awards will take place on 10 December, online, where the winners and commended entries will be revealed

27 Communications

Pre-coronavirus, research found that eight out of ten NHS Trusts were using video conferencing, but also warned that overly complicated solutions and lack of training heightens the risk of shadow IT amongst staff

Without embedded experience within healthcare organisations the application, evidence and business case for human factors in NHS decisionmaking will not be developed Following July’s Scan4Safety evidence report, Glen Hodgson discusses some of the paper’s findings as well as why point-of-care scanning will improve patient safety for years to come

77 Data Management

GDPR has caused much anxiety within the health care sector. Steve Mellings explains why the most critical part of compliance is the approach to data protection itself

30 Expert Panel: Communications 83 Cyber Security How important are seamless communications technologies in ensuring that the operational systems of a hospital run smoothly and safely? Our latest Panel of Experts, from Radiocoms and Motorola Solutions, share their thoughts

57

35 Facilities Management Christian Norris and Louise Northrop discuss the scale of the Health Infrastructure Plan’s economic benefit and the need for further acceleration

41 Facilities Management A new £500 million procurement framework has been launched by NHS SBS to offer high-quality soft facilities management services to the NHS

49 Energy

87

Hospitals are blessed with large buildings, which means large roof spaces. This article from the Solar Trade Association suggests that it is time that hospitals started to manipulate this space to save energy

54 Recruitment

Neal Suchak, Senior Policy Advisor at the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, discusses the challenges facing the health and social care sector after the 1 January 2021

57 Coronavirus 99

What is the current state of hospitals in the UK? Are the Nightingale Hospitals helping ease pressures on the NHS? And what does the vaccination news mean in practice?

Health Business magazine

The health service was not on the most secure footing when it came to cyber security going into 2020, before the pandemic struck. Will new funding and a coronavirus vaccine minimise the threat?

87 Cyber Security

Organisations can no longer afford to ignore cyber security and must build both a strategy and a workforce that can not only protect against attacks, writes Steve Durbin

93 Medical Devices

The end of the transition period is nearly upon us, meaning that 1 January 2021 will see many changes in government legislation come into force. Here, we look at the MHRA guidance on what post-Brexit medical device regulation will look like

97 Medical Devices

For medicines and vaccines in children under 18 years old you should report any suspected ADRs even if the reaction is well recognised

99 Covid Catalogue

Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, the Crown Commercial Service received thousands of offers from suppliers across the UK to provide goods and services to the public and third sector. The resulting Covid Catalogue is explored here

www.healthbusinessuk.net Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS | www.healthbusinessuk.net

News

COVID-19 VACCINE

UK authorises Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine The government has authorised the first Covid-19 vaccine based on independent advice of the medicines’ regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine will be made available across the UK from next week.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “This follows months of rigorous clinical trials and a thorough analysis of the data by experts at the MHRA who have concluded that the vaccine has met its strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.

“The Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) will shortly publish its final advice for the priority groups to receive the vaccine, including care home residents, health and care staff, the elderly and the clinically extremely vulnerable.

“The vaccine will be made available across the UK from next week. The NHS has decades of experience in delivering large scale vaccination programmes and will begin putting their extensive preparations into action to provide care and support to all those eligible for vaccination.”

VACCINE PROMOTION

SPENDING REVIEW

NHS to enlist celebrity help to promote coronavirus vaccine

£3 billion cash increase in NHS spending next year

It has been reported that NHS bosses are planning to enlist celebrities and influencers with big social media followings to persuade people to have the coronavirus vaccine.

Amid fears of low take-up, the Guardian has learned that ministers and NHS England are drawing up a list of ‘very sensible’ famous faces in the hope that their advice to get immunised would be widely trusted. No names are thought to have been confirmed, but there is suspicion that footballer Marcus Rashford, who gained much applaud for his child food poverty campaign, may be approached.

To further quell scepticism of the vaccine, the NHS also plans to use doctors who often appear on television and radio discussing health issues, because of their profile and the trust they are assumed to already have with the public. It is likely that religious leaders will also be asked to help persuade adherents to their faith that vaccination is good for them, their family and the country as a whole.

Experts say that overall take-up would need to be anything from 60 per cent to 75 per cent, depending on how effective the vaccines prove to be.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y6pfcaxk

As part of the government’s Spending Review, Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a £6.3 billion cash increase in NHS spending in 2021-22, compared to 2020-1.

This means that the NHS in England has been given £3 billion extra next year to tackle the huge backlog of operations cancelled because of coronavirus and the spike in mental illness caused by the pandemic. The £3 billion will boost the Department of Health and Social Care’s budget by £6.6 billion and mean that the NHS’s revenue budget in England in 2021/22 will be £136.1 billion.

Sunak reminded MPS that next year the government intends to deliver 50,000 more nurses and 50 million more general practice appointments, as well as the biggest hospital building programme in a generation - building 40 new hospitals and upgrading 70 more.

It is believed that hospitals will spend around £1 billion of the money trying to

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y3ks7a6e

reduce the number of people who are waiting for non-urgent surgery, such as a hip or knee replacement or cataract removal. In September the number of people forced to wait at least a year for elective care has rocketed to almost 140,000, up from 1,500 in February.

In addition to this, £500 million of the support package will go into expanding mental health care for people who could not access help when the pandemic struck, tackling both the backlog of adults referred for mental health care and to create new specialist services for under-18s. Further money from the announcement will be directed towards expanding the NHS’s workforce and improving training.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y47qvyjx

TEST AND TRACE

Rise in people reached by NHS Test and Trace The proportion of contacts reached by the NHS Test and Trace service has increased from 60.5 per cent to 72.5 per cent, thanks to measures such as improvements to the digital self-service, which make it faster and easier to provide tracing information, as well as changes to the process for contacting under-18s in a household.

The changes were made following feedback from the public and local tracing partners.

NHS Test and Trace expects to see the number of contacts reached continue to improve following further changes introduced last

week that streamline the process, so that adults in the same family can be traced via a single phone call.These latest developments to the service have also seen the proportion of contacts completing within 24 hours increase as the service continues to evolve.

Thanks to continued increases in capacity, turnaround times for in-person test routes continue to improve. For this reporting period, 84.9 per cent of in-person test results were received the next day after the test was taken, compared with 79.0

per cent reported in the previous week.

88.5 per cent of Pillar 1 test results were made available within 24 hours, compared with 88.1 per cent the previous week.

NHS Test and Trace has now reached more than one million cases (1,000,232) while in a further demonstration of a strong national and local partnership, 250 local tracing partnerships are now ‘live’ across the country – an increase of 50 since the previous week.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y47af6pl

Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Patient Information and Digital Consent Forms at Home Inform Digital from EIDO Healthcare delivers our high quality library of procedure speciďŹ c consent information directly to the device in the patient's hand.

The patient can read an information article and sign a digital consent form, all without coming into the hospital.

For more information and to arrange a demo: www.eidohealthcare.com/insider

News

MENTAL HEALTH

Patients waiting too long for mental health therapy People are consistently reporting poor experiences of NHS community mental health services with few positive results, according to the Care Quality Commission.

The CQC’s 2020 Community Mental Health Survey finds poor experiences were reported for support and well-being, crisis care and accessing care. People reported they did not always receive support for physical health needs, finding financial advice or finding and keeping employment, which are all key drivers for good mental health.

This year’s survey received responses from 17,601 people who reported on their experience of being cared for by NHS community-based mental health services in the previous 12 months.

The CQC reports that 28 per cent of people said that they would not know who to contact, out of office hours in the NHS, if they had a crisis, 17 per cent of those who did try to make contact with this person or team said they did not get the help they needed. A further two per cent were unable to make contact at all.

Additionally, almost two in five people had not had support with their physical health needs and 43 per cent did not receive help or advice to find support with financial advice or benefits. A further 44 per cent of people who have received NHS therapies in the last 12 months felt they waited too long to receive them. In addition, 24 per cent felt they had not seen services often

enough to meet their needs, 59 per cent said they were ‘definitely’ given enough time to discuss their needs and treatment.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/yyf77qvy

RECRUITMENT

PUBLIC HEALTH

Record numbers of doctors working in the NHS

Use ‘window of opportunity’ to improve public health

NHS workforce data for August shows the number of nurses in the NHS in England increased by 14,813 compared to last year, and the number of doctors rose to a record 121,726.

Quarterly vacancy statistics revealed by the Department of Health and Social Care show that the number of overall NHS vacancies has decreased since last year by over 18,500 (17.5 per cent), with the number of nursing and midwifery vacancies falling by over 15 per cent.

Additionally, recent figures for this year show the highest ever number of GPs entering training with 3,793 posts accepted, exceeding the mandated target of 3,250. Health Education England

has increased GP trainee acceptances year on year for the last seven years.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Not only do we have record numbers of doctors and over 14,800 more nurses working in our NHS than last year, but our pipeline of future talent in nursing, medicine and general practice is now at record levels. We are well on our way to deliver on our manifesto commitment of 50,000 more nurses in the NHS. I’m deeply grateful for the continued hard work of all our NHS staff throughout this pandemic.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y4u8m2yl

BAME

Positive workplace experience not shared by BME doctors

Black and minority ethnic (BME) doctors are less likely than their white counterparts to report improvements in workplace teamwork during the coronavirus pandemic.

Most UK doctors, BME and white, say that, despite the pandemic’s huge

impact on healthcare, there have been positive impacts, such as teamwork and knowledge and information sharing.

A new report from the General Medical Council has found that positive experiences are not shared equally by BME doctors compared to white colleagues, backing calls for all doctors to receive better support in the workplace.

The research discovered that positive changes to teamworking between doctors were reported by 68 per cent of white doctors, falling to 55 per cent for BME doctors. Meanwhile, positive change in the sharing of knowledge and experience across the medical profession was reported by 61 per cent of white doctors compared to 46 per cent of BME doctors.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/yxfyv5v5

A new report says that, in the wake of the pandemic, there is a window of opportunity to build an improved public health system to take on the major health challenges facing the country.

Following the decision to abolish Public Health England, The Health Foundation, who published the report, says it is essential that the government prioritises the wider services that keep people in good health. With huge resources being poured into the pandemic response, there is a risk that other vital aspects of public health will be neglected, leaving the public health system weaker in future.

The charity says that the government’s decision to maintain current levels of funding for public health, in the recent Spending Review, will not be enough and that a significant increase is needed to reverse major cuts in previous years. In addition to increased funding, the report says that the new public health system will need the right strategy and structures in place – including an independent body that reports to parliament on the nation’s health.

The report also says that the reorganisation – which will see PHE’s existing functions split up – needs to be carefully managed to ensure it doesn’t disrupt the pandemic response or wider public health services, pointing to lessons learned from the reorganisation of cancer services in 2012, which was highly costly, led to an exodus of experienced staff, and caused confusion about accountabilities and responsibilities.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y6s3mlcs

Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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News

FLU VACCINATIONS

More GPs to receive electronic notifications of flu vaccinations An NHS Digital service which sends information about flu vaccinations electronically from pharmacies to GP practices has been expanded ahead of winter.

Last year, a new service using electronic notifications to inform GP practices when a patient has a flu vaccination at a pharmacy was launched, saving time for GP practices and pharmacies. The service helps to improve data quality and reduces the duplication of invitations for vaccinations.

Electronic notifications have now been introduced for pharmacies and GP practices using Sonar and EMIS Web, following the service launch with PharmOutcomes and TPP SystmOne last year. With more

providers using the service, a greater number of flu vaccination notifications will be transmitted electronically this flu season. This is especially important this year, as more people are being offered an NHS flu vaccine.

Because details can be added to a patient’s medical record as soon as a notification is received, information will be more up to date. This will help make sure patients who have already had a flu vaccine at a community pharmacy are not contacted unnecessarily to arrange an appointment.

Dr Simon Eccles, chief clinical information officer and deputy chief executive of NHSX,

said: “This is an excellent example of how to solve a national problem by building on existing technology. This change will greatly improve care for patients by ensuring their family doctor and team are kept informed of their flu vaccinations.

“This has been a fantastic combined effort from all the teams involved at NHSX, NHS Digital and the pharmacy and GP suppliers to expand this important service at such tremendous speed and support our NHS through the flu season.”

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y2x2z28o

FLU VACCINATIONS

BLOOD TESTS

Flu vaccine uptake among people aged over 65 increasing

NHS to pilot potentially revolutionary blood test

Public Health England says that 75 per cent of those aged 65 and over in England received the free vaccine so far this year – up from 72.4 per cent at the end of the last flu season.

From 1 December, 50 to 64 years-olds will also be eligible for a free vaccine.

Public Health England data also shows that uptake is the highest it has ever been in two- and three-year-olds, at 47.6 per cent and 49.4 per cent. As part of this year’s expanded NHS flu vaccination programme, children in Year 7 have been offered the vaccine for the first time this year. Uptake in this year is higher than all other school groups, with more than a quarter (158,748) of Year 7 children vaccinated by the end of October.

Uptake in healthcare workers is also ahead of this time last year. By the end of October, 51.6 per cent of healthcare workers had already been vaccinated – over 100,000 more compared to the same period last year.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y3xleahn

VITAMIN D

Free winter supply of vitamin D for at-risk groups The government has said that more than 2.5 million vulnerable people across England will be offered free vitamin D supplements for the winter.

All care homes will automatically receive a provision for their residents, while individuals on the clinically extremely vulnerable list will receive a letter inviting them to opt in for a supply to be delivered directly to their homes.

Deliveries of the supplement, which will support general health, in particular bone and muscle health, will be free of charge, starting in January, and will provide four months’ worth of supplements to last people through the winter months.

This is particularly important this year as these individuals are more likely to have been indoors for extended periods due to measures introduced to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Public Health England advises people who are more at risk of not having enough vitamin D to take a vitamin D supplement all year round. A range of products and doses are available at supermarkets, pharmacies and other retailers.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/yy7c5k65

NHS England has announced that the health service is set to pilot potentially revolutionary blood test that detects more than 50 cancers.

Chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said the the Galleri blood test, developed by GRAIL, can detect early stage cancers through a simple blood test, and will be piloted with 165,000 patients in a world-first deal struck by NHS England.

Research on patients with signs of cancer has already found that the test, which checks for molecular changes, can identify many types that are difficult to diagnose early, such as head and neck, ovarian, pancreatic, oesophageal and some blood cancers. If the NHS programme shows the test also works as expected for people without symptoms it will be rolled out to become routinely available.

In England, around half of cancers are currently diagnosed at stage one or two but the NHS Long Term Plan is aiming to increase that to three quarters by 2028.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y67vb2dz

Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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News

PAY BONUS

£500 bonus for Scottish health and social care staff

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced a one-off payment for Scotland’s lifesavers and care-givers on the frontline throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

A pro rated payment of £500 will be made as soon as is practicable to all NHS and social

care workers employed since 17 March 2020, including staff who have had to shield, or who have since retired. This investment of around £180 million will see over 300,000 staff gain some benefit from this bonus, including nurses, porters, doctors, primary care staff, homecare workers, care home staff, hospice staff and residential child care staff.

Sturgeon said: “We’re in the early stages of negotiating a new pay deal for NHS Agenda for Change staff for 2021/22. The UK government’s public sector pay policy will not make that task easy, but we will do our level best to give NHS staff the pay increase they deserve. However, these negotiations will take time to conclude.

Those who have worked in our hospitals

and care homes - at the sharpest end of the Covid trauma - deserve recognition now.

“So I can announce today that, on behalf of us all, the Scottish Government will give every full time NHS and social care worker £500 as a one-off thank you payment for their extraordinary service in this toughest of years. Those who work part time will get a proportionate share.

The money will be paid in this financial year and it will be separate from any negotiations about pay for the longer term. There are no strings attached.”

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CANCER TREATMENT

WINTER PRESSURES

Pandemic to delay cancer advances by nearly 18 months

True pressures on trusts not being reflected in statistics

The Institute of Cancer Research has warned that advances for patients could be delayed by almost a year and a half because of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

A survey by the organisation suggests that advances would be pushed back by an average of six months by the initial lockdown, subsequent restrictions on laboratory capacity and the closure of national scientific facilities. With broader effects on charity funding, disruption of collaboration and personal interaction between scientists, and diversion of research efforts to coronavirus, the respondents estimated that major advances in cancer research would be delayed by an average of 17 months.

However, researchers said that science had now adapted in many ways to the pandemic and that long-lasting damage to cancer research could be mitigated

through extra funding from charitable donations or government support – calling for investment in staffing, new technology such as robotics and computing power.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/y3cgjxeo

RESERVISTS

New NHS Reservists will ‘strengthen the health service’ A new system of volunteer reservists for the NHS in England, modelled on Armed Forces reservists and police special constables, is being proposed through a new law in Parliament.

Alan Mak, MP for Havant in Hampshire and Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party, who presented his NHS Reserve Staff Bill to Parliament on 24 November 2020, backed by Health Secretary Matt Hancock. The bill proposes a new, uniformed standing reserve of clinical and non-clinical volunteers which NHS hospitals, health trusts and other health service bodies can call upon when staffing demands increase.

Scenarios where NHS Reservists could be called up include public health emergencies, seasonal increases in demand, large public events and protests, industrial action, and critical incidents such as terrorist attacks or major accidents.

Mak says that his proposal would harness the current strong public desire to support the health service beyond the coronavirus outbreak by creating a new, permanent NHS Reserves system to provide a formal bank of trained and vetted volunteer staff to support NHS hospitals and trusts during periods of high demand for staff, supplementing, but not replacing, the NHS’s permanent staff.

READ MORE tinyurl.com/yxn55t5l

A briefing for MPs and peers from NHS Providers shows why national NHS statistics do not reflect the true pressures on the health service, underlining the need for caution in considering coronavirus restrictions.

Published as MPs voted in favour of the government’s new tiered restrictions, the briefing says that although national level data on bed occupancy and hospital demand may appear to be manageable, this is not a good guide to the pressures on the NHS. It explains why running a hospital is much more difficult and complex than normal due to coronavirus, because of the pressing need to treat three sets of patients: those with coronavirus; those caught in the backlog of planned care; and tthose requiring emergency treatment.

NHS Providers says that trusts face difficult challenges in managing these competing priorities, which are not captured in the national data on demand and bed occupancy.

For example, slower or disrupted planned surgery caused by limited theatre space, time consuming donning and doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE), and the need to convert elective surgery recovery wards to treat coronavirus patients.

The briefing also tackles misconceptions about the figures for intensive care units and the use of Nightingale hospitals, which were always intended as a last resort insurance policy to avoid the NHS being overwhelmed. NHS Providers says that the figures for intensive care units (ICUs) are not a good indicator of hospital pressures because they only account for a small proportion of a hospital’s total bed base, and many more coronavirus patients are now being treated on general wards without the need for ventilators.

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Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

Added challenges stretch NHS capacity Treat the problems with your hospital’s processes and give your patients the care they deserve with the Netcall suite of contact centre, low-code and messaging solutions important is the powerful reporting, which shows us whether a patient has accepted their appointment or not.” – University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.

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Video: Attend Anywhere, phone calls or in person Video and telephone appointments are here to stay. It can be confusing for patients, so Patient Hub makes each type of appointment clear. It adds in the link for the Attend Anywhere video appointment too!

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Real-time attendance information Patient Hub fully integrates with your Hospital PAS using HL7, and with permission can perform updates too.

Symptom checker and I’ve arrived for in person appointments As hospitals open up in-person appointments, site safety comes into focus. Working with trusts we’ve created a symptom checker and I’ve arrived. The symptom checker routinely checks for Covid symptoms before every patient leaves home for an in-person appointment. Keep your site safe and avoid wasted patient journeys. Once they have arrived, they check-in remotely and reception sees their arrival on the dashboard. As soon as space is available, the receptionist asks them to come to the waiting room.

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“The cost savings, estimated at £150-200k per year are significant, but much more

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS | www.healthbusinessuk.net

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Recognising excellence in the National Health Service

HB Awards

2019

The 2020 Health Business Awards will take place on 10 December, online, where the winners and commended entries will be revealed.

Since 2010, the Health Business Awards has been staged annually in order to recognise the many examples of innovation and excellence that happen every day in the NHS. Supported by Health Business magazine, the award categories incorporate facilities, technology, human resources, hospital management and transport as well as the Outstanding Achievement in Healthcare award, which is presented to an NHS organisation that has achieved sustained success in its role and has brought benefits to the wider NHS through dedication and expertise.

The 2020 Health Business Awards will be presented by GP, TV presenter, medical broadcaster, author and public speaker Dr Hilary Jones. This year there are 18 categories being awarded, with the shortlisted entries revealed below.

Healthcare IT Sponsored by Netcall, the Healthcare IT Award recognises ground breaking IT projects that demonstrate clear cost benefits to the wider NHS. There are five organisations in the running to win the accolade in 2020.

They are: the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, for its plans for the world’s first integrated digital health system, offering virtual hospital appointments and diagnosis via AI for the 300,000 people across Wolverhampton and its surrounding areas; NHS Digital, who has saved

to the experience and overall care of its patients. the NHS an estimated £75 million a year by London Ambulance Service has committed five providing organisations with faster connectivity cars staffed by mental health nurses from NHS at reduced cost, all thanks to the new Health trusts for the capital. Also making the shortlist is and Social Care Network; Chesterfield Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust Royal Hospital NHS Foundation who went live in May with a new Trust, in recognition for the electronic prescribing system, launch of the trust’s new T h e COVID to better help administer digital portal, Patient Respon medicines for NHS mental Hub, which can be s e A ward will cele health professionals’ and used on any device organis brate the NHS ICU Steps who are using and has two-factor £200,000 to ensure security offering implem ation which ha e that people who have patients 24/7 access s n t e d swift an success been hospitalised with to their appointment d fu coronavirus in Scotland information; Cardiff order tol measures in will have access to a & Vale University c the panope with new national peer support Health Board and demic network to help their the use of OpenEyes, recovery and rehabilitation. an Ophthalmology fully Completing the shortlist in this digital web based Electronic category is Leeds and York Partnership Patient Record (EPR) to support NHS Foundation Trust for the CONNECT: West its digital Glaucoma pathway; and Yorkshire Adult Eating Disorders Service, which Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals, for provides early intervention, outpatient, inpatient the introduction of an electronic observations and intensive home-based treatment for people (eObs) platform, through which patient records aged 18 and over with eating disorders from can be updated and viewed remotely. across West Yorkshire, and South London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust, in recognition Innovation in Mental Health for the Orchid Mental Health Emergency Service, Also sponsored by Netcall, the Innovation in which was recently praised by the CQC as an Mental Health award is presented to NHS ‘innovative and inspirational’ service. E organisations who have made strides to improve

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Providing holistic debt recovery and litigation solutions

Debt Recovery Plus is the leading provider of debt recovery services to the private parking industry.

As specialists in the sector, the company understands the unique challenges faced in recovering Parking Charge Notices, and works to educate motorists in the legitimacy and enforceability of charges. This approach, alongside a commitment to developing a dedicated and knowledgeable Collections team, has helped DRP secure the highest payment success rate in the industry.

DRP are authorised members of the British Parking Association and the International Parking Community, which enables them to contribute to the future success of the industry as a whole, and ensures it stays fully apprised

of the key commercial and strategic interests of its clients.

Furthermore, the organisation works closely with Disabled Motorists UK and People’s Parking to promote the importance of accessibility for all motorists to its clients and to the wider public.

Debt Recovery Plus is a proud member of the Bristow & Sutor Group. With its fellow group companies, Bristow & Sutor and Credit Style, DRP offer a holistic debt recovery and litigation solution to private and public sector clients across the UK.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.debtrecoveryplus.co.uk

Helping you solve today’s business challenges Skyrocketing costs, historic regulatory changes, patient demands for instant access to their records, compliance to GDPR, SAR and freedom of information implications, bureaucracy and security concerns help define the healthcare industry landscape.

Indeed GDPR that became law this year poses several challenges, not least the ability to be compliant with stricter data protection rules but also to be able to prove it in a court of law.

By deploying a scanning solution alongside other lineof-business applications and embracing digital transformation, healthcare organisations can gain a strategic hub for managing all content that flows through the enterprise. Key benefits include: centralised storage with enhanced security for all information, including patient records; business process agility that can lead

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to productivity gains and cost savings; enhanced compliance throughout all departments with all regulatory guidelines; faster access to patient information, potentially leading to improved patient outcomes, better patient engagement, and better access to critical information across the care continuum; and a notable ROI from the investment.

With the benefits and rapid return on the investment, moving from paper to digital processes will allow organisations to tackle the challenges facing the industry in the coming years.

Providing the technology to help modern workplace improve

Whether it is research or administration, at the workplace or working from home, people are demanding superiority from their visual displays. With a special focus on the healthcare sector, Philips monitors strives to deliver products that support and enable employers and employees, zeroing in on maximum flexibility, efficiency and of course security.

Philips monitors’ product range builds on the rich tradition of pushing the boundaries of display technology.

Merging performance and excellent images with the security and flexibility that today’s workplaces need, Philips monitors provide the innovative technology modern workplaces need to keep going and keep improving.

Paul Butler, Regional Sales Director, Philips monitors, said: “The UK healthcare sector has served us tremendously this year as we were all facing unknown challenges. We are happy and proud to sponsor this year’s Health Business Awards as a means of acknowledging the NHS’s singular efforts of the past months.

“We believe in the power of technology to elevate modern workplaces, improve data security and, most importantly, empower those working with our products – those individuals who put the screens to use and keep our healthcare system going.”

FURTHER INFORMATION www.philips.com/monitors

Virtual IT department offering peace of mind

BiGDUG saves customers time, space and money by offering the best storage solutions, to bring order and efficiency to their space.

BIGDUG offers everything from shelving and racking to workplace products and packing and will provide customers with the best quality products at the best prices.

BiGDUG was founded in 2004 and is now part of the

FURTHER INFORMATION marketing@uk.fujitsu.com

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global business equipment group, TAKKT. It already sells storage products to over 250,000 customers and continues to welcome them each day to its trust, customer-focused business.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.bigdug.co.uk

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NHS Collaboration Award Sponsored by Debt Recovery Plus, the NHS Collaboration Award is presented to the NHS trust which has worked with other public/ private sector organisations to engage the local community in preventative campaigns.

London Ambulance Service and London Fire Brigade announced a new partnership to boost the coronavirus emergency response in April, which saw firefighters helping with a number of roles across the ambulance service.

Shortlisted in this category for their efforts, up to 300 staff from London Fire Brigade have helped by driving ambulances and assisting paramedics as directed. London Ambulance Service is also shortlisted for its work this year with the AA to help keep paramedics on the road to respond to increasing health callouts.

Also recognised is Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and the Yorkshire Ambulance Service who have been extending the sharing of data, allowing the electronic transfer of ambulance care records directly into the hospital system.

Next, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has been shortlisted for becoming the first trust

on the English mainland to provide combined community, mental health and acute hospital services, following a merger earlier this year.

NHS Kernow CCG completes the shortlist for this category, having implemented a new approach to working with Cornwall Council on social care, health commissioning and public health services.

Transport & Logistics Award Solent Transport is the first organisation to make the list in the Transport & Logistics category, having this year undertaken a new trial looking into using drones to transport medical supplies across the Solent to the Isle of Wight to support the response to the coronavirus pandemic. Remaining in the air, Thames Valley Air Ambulance is also shortlisted, following its Outstanding rating by the Care Quality Commission this year. The independent ambulance service was rated as Outstanding for being safe, caring and well-led and Good for being effective and responsive to people’s needs.

In June, the transport arm of Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust, QE Transport (QET), was awarded with Van Excellence Operator Certification by the FTA, making them the first van fleet operator to receive certification remotely under coronavirus physical distancing rules. They are joined by NHS Scotland, who has accessed £1.36 million of available support through the Transport Scotland Switched on Fleets Fund for 112 new electric cars, as well as the Welsh Ambulance Service, who recently unveiled ultra-modern additions to its 799-strong fleet, including a low-emission hybrid rapid response car, the first of its kind for the service.

Outstanding Achievement in Healthcare The Outstanding Achievement in Healthcare is billed as the stand-out category of the Health Business Awards, highlighting the work of an NHS organisation that has achieved success in its role and brought benefits to the wider NHS through the dedication and expertise of its staff. The first to make the shortlist for 2020 is South Warwickshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, rated by the CQC as Outstanding overall, making it the first ‘Outstanding’ acute and community healthcare provider in the Midlands.

The work of Thames Valley Air Ambulance has been of such success as to warrant a second shortlisting, this time in the Outstanding Achievement category. CQC inspector Catherine Campbell said that ‘there was a strong culture of openness, honesty and learning’ and that ’the service and staff took a proactive approach to safeguarding’.

Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust have also been recognised in our shortlist following the findings of a CQC inspection, which was credited for having a ‘determination to develop a culture of continuous improvement’, and that the resulting positive culture meant that ‘staff felt passionate about delivering good quality care’. Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has been rated as Outstanding.

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is the first healthcare trust in the UK to achieve the highest international quality standard that recognises the use of technology, data and analytics to support

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inpatient care. The Trust has also been shortlisted after reaching ‘Stage 7’ – the highest rating of the HIMSS Analytics international Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM).

HB Awards

 COVID Response The COVID Response Award is being awarded for the first time this year to celebrate the NHS organisation which has implemented swift and successful measures in order to cope with the coronavirus pandemic. Sponsored by BigDug, the first nominee is Barnsley Healthcare Federation’s PCN model, which has brought practices together like never before during the coronavirus pandemic with a shift in the focus of GPs and practice staff. The clinic has supported over 2,000 patients since April enabling practices to remain open and reducing the volume of patients that have attended A&E and practices for coronavirus symptoms.

Also on the shortlist is NHS Supply Chain who has been working to supply and deliver products into the NHS, preparing supply chains for the significant increase in equipment and consumables required to equip the NHS Nightingale hospitals.

Additionally, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust has been recognised for the work undertaken at Bridgwater Community Hospital, where nurse practitioners and colleagues from the community urgent care service collaborated with the local PCN and the local CCG to set up and run a safe Primary Assessment Centre.

NHS Blood and Transplant is opening 14 more blood plasma donation centres to urgently collect plasma for coronavirus treatment trials and potential general use in hospitals. The NHS trials of convalescent plasma are the largest randomised controlled trials for this treatment of coronavirus, and also the first to reach 1,500 randomisations.

The final organisation in this category is NHS Shared Business Services, who transitioned almost 100 per cent of its UK workforce to home-working by the start of April, with an additional 900 office-based staff enabled to work remotely within just two weeks. It meant that, in April and May alone, the Finance and Accounting teams processed 167,000 purchase orders and paid over one million supplier invoices (worth £7.5bn), whilst managing an additional £46.5bn cash for the NHS.

Ambulance Trust of the Year London Ambulance Service is again nominated following the recent unveiling of a new hitech training centre in August, which will help enable London Ambulance Service to train more emergency call handlers. Also shortlisted is North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust, whose East Lancashire Falls Response Service Team sees the collaboration of a Paramedic and an Occupational Therapist who respond to non-life threatening 999 calls for falls, so that patients can be treated at home without having to go to hospital or can be referred to an appropriate community service.

Following two years of work, August saw the completion of the new tri-service station Hucknall, bringing East Midlands Ambulance Service, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue and Leicestershire Police 99 services under one roof. East Midlands Ambulance Service has been shortlisted and is now better placed to collaboratively respond to callouts in the region.

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust launched a ground-breaking digital product this year to enable the public to stream video directly from their smartphones into the SCAS 999 Clinical Coordination Centres.

The GoodSAM’sInstant On Scene product is set to revolutionise triage for the Ambulance Service, ensuring medics can now see what the patient sees in just a few seconds. It has helped the organisation make our shortlist, joined by East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust, who, this summer, was awarded £5 million to drive digital transformation projects to further improve the safety and quality of the care which staff are able to provide to patients. The only ambulance service to be named as a pilot site for the new digital aspirant programme, run by NHSX, EEAST’s funding will be used to help the trust move towards its goal of becoming paperless by 2023/24.

Patient Data Award Having been shortlisted in the NHS Collaboration category, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Yorkshire Ambulance Service will also be hoping for success in this one, joined by NHS Arden & GEM CSU’s Data and Systems team who are helping to replace an NHS manual data return spreadsheet to record deaths over email. The new application was built using a web form which can be accessed on any internet connected device, with the majority of fields auto-filled once the appropriate NHS number has been entered, reducing data entry errors and improving data quality.

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust has been recognised in our shortlist for the CRIS-COVID-19 Rapid Response Initiative, a project which creates a data resource for both clinicians’ and researchers’ short- and long-term monitoring of clinical outcomes and changes to service use during the pandemic.

With a clinical desire for data-driven care and improvements to safety using advanced digital technology, all clinical areas across both of Cambridge University Hospitals’ sites have been completely transformed with the introduction E Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Recognising excellence in patient safety delivery

Jones AV Ltd. Medical Systems Integration

As patient safety and Hospital Acquired Infections continue to be on top of the agenda of the WHO across the globe, we are proud to support the continual efforts of NHS trusts and their teams, who have successfully managed to address these issues of over the past year.

At Jones AV, we support the efforts to address patient safety through use of smart technology, digital operating theatre and workflow improvements. Though

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it is the teams in theatres, ICU, the wards and in virtually every part of the hospital that are in fact making a real difference to so many patient lives.

We are proud to be able to recognise this important work by supporting the Patient Safety Award and wish all the nominees the best of luck.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.jonesav.co.uk

Helping to securely access a patient’s care package

The Yellow Bracelet Care service was developed by a team of clever folks from Sundown Solutions in conjunction with health and social care professionals.

The team wanted to make sure that people who either have a care package provided by a local authority or private company, or those who have a pre-existing medical condition requiring medication, do not experience any unnecessary overnight stays in hospital when instead they should be looked after by their chosen care provider, at home, or in a less acute setting such as a nursing residence.

Yellow Bracelet Care is a service developed to empower health and personal well-being.

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS | www.healthbusinessuk.net

The service provides peace of mind, by ensuring that in the event of an emergency, any authorised health and social care professional can view, and securely access information about the patient’s care package and other pertinent medical information.

No apps, no usernames or password, just a standard Smartphone Camera is needed.

Yellow Bracelet enables health care staff to spend their time providing care to you, the patient, rather than investigating medication and care currently in place can do so.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.yellowbracelet.co.uk

NHS Publicity Campaign Award By the end of March this year, 405,724 people had signed up to volunteer for the NHS to help in its fight against coronavirus, highlighting the ‘overwhelming response’ to a call made by NHS England just 24 hours before. NHS Volunteer Responders, run by the Royal Voluntary Service, offers help to people in need of support or who are avoiding public places during the coronavirus pandemic. Their monumental efforts have been recognised in our NHS Publicity Campaign category, awarded to the campaign which can demonstrate success in achieving its objectives.

Also shortlisted is the For a Greener NHS campaign, established this year by NHS England. The health and care system in England is responsible for an estimated five per cent of the country’s carbon footprint, so the programme will aim to tackle both the causes of air pollution and climate change.

One way it will do this is by establishing an expert panel to chart a practical route map this year to enable the NHS to get to ‘net zero’.

In July, a first-of-its-kind campaign was launched to wipe out the transmission of coronavirus in Southampton’s hospitals.

University Hospital Southampton began planning to bring back services and healthcare support by leading from the frontline in ensuring that patients who need treatment can access it safely. The University Hospital Southampton COVID ZERO campaign, shortlisted

by Health Business, is the first of its kind to be launched by a hospital trust in England.

April saw Public Health England’s Every Mind Matters platform launched with new advice focused on looking after people’s mental wellbeing during the coronavirus pandemic. The range of new Every Mind Matters resources include a tailored Covid-19 Mind Plan, Covid-19 specific content for individuals and their loved ones, and support for specific mental wellbeing issues. The initiative has been shortlisted in the NHS Publicity Campaign Award.

Finally, an increase in demand for parking spaces near hospitals and health centres due to coronavirus led to UK parking app, JustPark, to launch a nationwide public appeal to help ease the burden on travelling NHS staff and patients.

JustPark, which matches drivers with parking spaces, has been recognised for its generous work. The app has a network of over 50,000 locations and over 4.5 million registered users.

Patient Safety Award The Patient Safety Award is presented to the NHS Trust which has made great strides in providing

a safe hospital environment for patients. In its second shortlisting, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is recognised for being the first healthcare trust in the UK to achieve the highest international quality standard that recognises the use of technology, data and analytics to support inpatient care.

Also shortlisted this year are Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, which has developed a new electronic system to monitor patients with suspected or confirmed coronavirus, and Southern Health and Social Care Trust, whose Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy Service has help save an estimated 6,000 days since it was set up two years ago, which people may have otherwise spent in Southern Trust hospitals.

Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust has been shortlisted for the work of it’s Sepsis and Kidney Injury Prevention (SKIP) team, who identify deterioration as early as possible, allowing clinicians to make quick decisions about life-saving treatment. Patients have a much better outcome when treatment is received promptly after they show signs of sepsis.

Completing this category, North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust has developed CareScan+, a point of care scanning solution used to enhance patient safety. CareScan+ uses the information contained within barcodes to identify patients and staff. It is also used to track and monitor the use of medical equipment, surgical implants and other medical supplies.

Hospital Security Award The first organisation shortlisted in the Hospital Security Award category is Broadmoor Hospital.

The new £250 million high-security Broadmoor Hospital opened at the end of 2019, replacing the old hospital. The new hospital has been purpose built to provide a safe environment for treating patients who need psychiatric care in a high-secure setting. Also shortlisted is South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, for their involvement in the Operation Cavell pilot scheme, which is helping to protect health workers on the frontline, ensuring that senior investigators review all crimes against NHS workers and will use the experience of specialised and dedicated police investigators.

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust become the first UK healthcare organisation to deploy innovative new thermographic technology to protect frontline NHS workers and patients from a second wave of coronavirus cases. UHNM installed the first of eight thermal cameras in June.

NHS Digital and NHS Shared Business Services are also shortlisted, having worked with the National Cyber Security Centre to develop a new cyber security services framework for the NHS and public sector, which can be used to procure external support and services to help manage cyber security risks. Completing the shortlist for this category is Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals, who has given bodycams to hospital staff to make them feel safer around potentially violent and aggressive patients. Security staff, casualty nurses and medical teams began trialling the cameras in February in a bid to deter confrontations and boost confidence amongst the workers.

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Sustainable Hospital Award Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust declared a climate emergency last year, becoming the first NHS trust in the UK to do so. Since that declaration, which prompted a number of other NHS organisations follow suit, the trust, which serves a population of over three million, has formed a number of city-wide action groups and established a climate action group across the region’s integrated care system.

NHS Supply Chain have also been shortlisted in the Sustainable Hospital Award, for the organisations ongoing commitment to ensuring the most environmentally and cost-efficient services across the supply chain. More than 200 NHS trusts made huge environmental savings by simply switching their copier paper: the move from A4 virgin fibre copier paper to A4 recycled paper saved the equivalent of: watching 85,503 hours of a plasma TV in energy; filling 161 Olympic size swimming pools with water; felling 20,000 trees in wood; and travelling 10 times around the world in an aeroplane in Co2.

NHS Property Services is responsible for more than 3,500 buildings of NHS estate, collectively totalling more than 34 million square feet.

Earlier this year, NHSPS signed a contract to source 100 per cent of its electricity demand from renewable sources. This means that more than 11 per cent of the NHS’s estate switched to 100 per cent renewable electricity this Spring.

In March 2020, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly’s sustainability and transformation partnership (STP) outlined a 2030 net-zero target, in what is believed to be a UK first. Under the arrangement all of the involved organisations will work together to create a system-wide environment plan, headlined by a target to deliver net-zero operational carbon emissions by the end of the decade. According to the STP, 2030 is the most ambitious net-zero deadline set by any NHS region to date.

Completing the shortlist for this category is Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which has achieved an annual reduction of 6,440 tonnes of CO2e based on energy, waste and travel last year. This was a 17 per cent reduction from the previous year with energy consumption being cut by almost half.

HB Awards

 of eHospital. The first-of-its-kind transformation in an NHS trust, eHospital has revolutionised the way that clinical teams at the trust now care for their patients.

Completing this category, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust is celebrated for Westmorland General Hospital being honoured as a National Joint Registry (NJR) ‘Quality Data Provider’ after successfully completing a national programme of orthopaedic data audits. The Medical Records department at UHMBT played a key role in achieving the award as the team members proactively pulled all of the patients records for cross checking against of NJR Audit data.

Telehealth Award Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust has gone live with a new electronic prescribing system, to better help administer medicines for NHS mental health professionals. Recognised in our Telehealth category, trust staff at more than 70 sites throughout Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire can now securely access a patient’s medication information electronically and issue prescriptions from anywhere. The trust has become the first of its kind in the country to go live with the DXC Technology ePMA component of the Lorenzo electronic patient record system.

Also making the shortlist for this category is Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Traditionally, patients attending their outpatient appointment would be assessed and supplied with a prescription to be taken to the outpatient pharmacy. Pharmacists at Newcastle Hospitals were the first in the UK to use an ‘electronic prescription service’ for their patients during the coronavirus pandemic. The service – previously only available to GP practices E Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

Debt recovery services for the private parking industry Debt Recovery Plus (DRP) is the leading provider of debt recovery services to the private parking industry, providing debt recovery and back office solutions to 90 per cent of the industry, handling over 120,000 unpaid parking charges each month

Based in a call centre environment we have a core telephony team who can handle incoming and outgoing calls to motorists to help resolve any issues, answer questions and ultimately settle any unpaid parking charges. We can handle client payments 24/7 via our web/automated services along with our dedicated team of advisers.

Debt Recovery Plus have been the chosen provider of debt recovery services to the leading parking operators for over 10 years, helping our clients to grow along the way. By working closely with the operators, we have helped to strengthen the parking industry through educating and challenging each other with new ideas.

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Delivering a one stop enforcement solution Recently Debt Recovery Plus became part of the Bristow & Sutor Group, who are one of the largest providers of debt recovery to the public parking sector. Together with B&S our aim is to deliver a one stop enforcement solution to all our clients. With over 40 years of enforcement experience within the group we can offer our clients advice based upon our knowledge of both industries along with tried and tested solutions to help our clients maximise revenue recovery whilst protecting their data.

Data reports At DRP we know how important each and everyone of our client’s parking charge notices are, which is why we employ client specific teams to analyse the data and report back on any trends, unfamiliar patterns and unusual cases. This helps our clients and landowners to identify persistent offenders and review their parking management strategy to ensure that they are offering their client a suitable solution.

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At DRP we create bespoke recovery strategies for all our clients, which helps them to deliver an educated recovery model designed specifically for the industry which they are working. We can provide recovery for clients on Commercial, Residential, Retail, Rail, Airport and NHS sites.

Our aim is to deliver an ethical approach to debt recovery to help our clients capture any unpaid parking charges whilst at the same time allowing the motorist an opportunity to discuss their case.

Within our group our priority is our client’s data, when making any decisions on strategy, reporting or collecting on a case Compliance is our first thought. When GDPR was introduced we decided as a group to implement a GDPR team at both of our offices. Our GDPR teams implement compliant processes and practices at each office along with helping our clients with any GDPR questions which they may encounter along the way. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.debtrecoveryplus.co.uk

Hospital Procurement Award In the Hospital Procurement Award, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust’s Procurement and Logistics Team are celebrated for having redesigned their systems and processes to provide an exemplary service, ensuring patients and staff had the PPE and other critical supplies they needed to care for patients. The work carried out this year has resulted in more than 52 million items of PPE being sourced and delivering over 16.5 million items of PPE within Sheffield Teaching Hospitals alone.

NHS Supply Chain’s route to market delivers not only cash releasing savings but wider sustainability benefits for NHS customers. As an organisation linked to the NHS and to public health, NHS Supply Chain is committed to ensure the most environmentally and cost-efficient services across the supply chain, and is shortlisted for its procurement successes.

The NHS London Procurement Partnership has been working to help the public sector provide high quality healthcare apps to patients and public. The Health and Social Care Apps Dynamic Purchasing System provides public sector organisations with a safe and secure route to market for healthcare apps and has been used to procure new apps for fitness, mental health and most recently, a new NHS England and NHS Improvement app to help patients with diabetes stay well during the coronavirus pandemic.

And, lastly in this category, NHS Shared Business Services has created the Internal and External Audit, Counter Fraud, and Financial Assurance Services Framework, which provides average indicative savings of 10-15 per cent compared to buying direct from a supplier at list price..

Hospital Catering Award The NHS Supply Chain: Food tower has delivered meal boxes for staff by closely collaborating with hospitals and catering staff by responding to these immediate needs with a specially designed solution. The success of the meal box scheme delivered: 10,000 lunch boxes for ambulance staff across four days at the height of the pandemic; 2,000 lunch boxes per day for staff at one NHS trust for the foreseeable future; and a new resource for staff meal boxes available to all and suited to a range of allergen and dietary need.

A few months ago, Hillingdon Hospital in Greater London partnered with plant-based subscription company Vibrant Vegan and the Open Kitchen Co. to launch hot vegan meal vending machines. The project aims to install 500 vending machines in hospitals

across the UK by 2023. The Hillingdon launch follows a survey of NHS staff that revealed 78 per cent of employees would choose to eat a hot vegan meal if it was available.

Great British Bake Off judge Prue Lieth recently highlighted food at West Suffolk Hospital for particular praise. According to her report, the hospital in Bury St Edmunds is one of their top picks, named as one of two dozen best practice sites nationally.

The catering team at Tameside Hospital took the decision to be greener last year and started by replacing the single use plastics in the Hartshead Restaurant. All takeaway boxes and cutlery were replaced with recyclable alternatives. As well as dramatically reducing single use plastic use, the team has also thought of the environment when it comes to replacing kitchen equipment. All new equipment has to meet criteria that ensuring it is more energy efficient than the previous item had been.

This year, patients at Musgrove Park Hospital have been offered a selection of familiar drinks, tastes and smells to remind them of home. Part of Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, the hospital launched the Taste of Home initiative in May to give people who are being cared for with coronavirus the chance to taste familiar drinks or confectionery while they are away from their loved ones.

Estates & Facilities Innovation Award The Estates & Facilities Innovation Award recognises NHS and other healthcare organisations that have developed innovative procedures for managing and maintaining healthcare facilities. University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust began work at the start of the year to replace its existing 1 megawatt (MW) Combined Heat and Power (CHP) engine with a larger 3.36MW CHP and district heating facility which will enable the organisation to efficiently generate more low carbon electricity and heat.

Also shortlisted is United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust. 2020 saw the trust embark upon three major energy-saving projects across its main hospital sites to slash carbon emissions. The first will introduce a new Combined Heat and Power (CHP) centre at Lincoln County Hospital, the second will see energy-efficient LED lighting implemented across its main hospital sites, and the third will see the trust convert the main energy supply at Pilgrim Hospital to gas from heavy fuel oil.

NHS England convened the NHS Net Zero Expert Panel in January, to analyse evidence on how the health service can contribute to nationwide carbon reduction efforts. The NHS has now formally adopted two targets: for the NHS Carbon Footprint, net zero by 2040, with an ambition for an interim 80 per cent reduction by 2028-2032; and for the NHS Carbon Footprint Plus, net zero by 2045, with an ambition for an interim 80 per cent reduction by 2036-2039.

The NHS Business Services Authority has declared a climate emergency and set out aims to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Shortlisted in our Estates & Facilities Innovation category, NHSBSA reports that solar panels at NHSBSA’s Hesketh House in Fleetwood have so far generated

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enough renewable electricity to power 107 semi-detached homes for a year.

Hospital Building Award The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s leading cancer centres providing highly specialist cancer care to a population of 2.4 million. Clatterbridge Cancer Centre – Liverpool is the flagship new hospital, which opened in June. It has been shortlisted in our Hospital Building Award.

Since September, health and well-being providers looking for alternative and flexible ways to deliver services in response to coronavirus have been able to use NHS payas-you-go spaces across England. NHS Open Space, the NHS Property Services programme, first launched in Spring 2019 and opens up underused space across the NHS, enabling health and well-being providers to offer much needed services at the heart of local communities, and providing businesses with affordable meeting or office space.

Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust has also made the shortlist for the new and fully equipped 20-bed isolation ward, built in record time to provide dedicated care for patients suffering from coronavirus or other infectious diseases, alongside Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, whose Acute Medical Units and stroke teams have now moved to their new homes in the £14 million, 100-bed ward block.

Lastly, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust recently opened a £22 million state-of-the-art intensive care unit that provides 22 new beds for the south’s most critically ill patients. It has taken 18 months to build and has now officially been handed over to University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust by contractors BAM.

HB Awards

 and community pharmacies – allows electronic prescriptions to be sent to any community pharmacy in the country.

NHS Arden & GEM is working in partnership with Tekihealth Solutions to deliver a remote healthcare service to care home residents through Teki-Hub – a diagnostic set specifically designed for remote clinical examination. The solution is specifically designed for remote clinical examination, enabling the doctor to conduct a full clinical assessment through the use of tele-diagnostic equipment.

Healthcare Recruitment Award NHS Employers is currently working with the DHSC to develop a supportive programme of work to help employers recruit skilled refugees and displaced people into NHS. Also recognised in this category is the Royal Voluntary Service for the NHS Volunteer Responders programme and Health Education England for a new pan-London consortium to coordinate the recruitment of international nurses. Forming part of the CapitalNurse programme, the service will provide NHS trusts with a single point of access for recruiting overseas nurses, allowing them to source the very best staff from multiple countries and agencies at the same time, reducing costs while upholding ethical recruitment principles.

Finally, South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust has embedded the recruitment of veterans and their families into its recruitment processes and, this year, has been recognised for acting as an exemplar and sharing good practice with other employers.

Step into Health recognises the transferable skills and cultural values that Armed Forces personnel have developed and how these are compatible with working in the NHS. L FURTHER INFORMATION https://awards.healthbusinessuk.net/

Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Procurement

How the sustainable domino effect will help the NHS In this blog, Andrew Smith, Pillar Lead Research at CCS - Environment and Sustainability, reveals some of the ways the NHS can achieve sustainability To achieve sustainability within the NHS will feel like moving a mountain with a teaspoon, it is possible but it will be a long and hard journey. The tasks are endless each with their own unique problems and firmly underlined with the central core value that what they do is save lives. A change can be ideal in a sustainable target, but detrimental to the area in their role in patient care.

While looking at what needs to be done it is often thought that answering in-depth riddles on the creation of the universe could be easier. When you look at the NHS as a single entity the task becomes too large. Instead, by breaking it down into the component parts, it helps to make it less intimidating, but what these components are is yet to be decided.

When you mention the NHS to anyone the initial thought is the large trust led hospitals, but what about all of the health centres providing local GP care to the community, the nurses, care professionals and admin teams that keep these areas running? Let’s look at one of these areas as an example of what could be changed.

The first thing that people think of when it comes to carbon net-zero is power. Looking

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common to see medical notes on a computer at this from one aspect would be a move to a system compared to the old style paper records. green sourced power supply, maybe including Laptops are more environmentally carbon offset certificates. In an ideal world, friendly than desktop systems it would be a mix of solar and but they do have a theft risk air source heat pumps, if the Hospita connected with them. property is in a more rural area Having a server system and has the available space can enc l sites o located off site would then a small wind turbine m a p l a l of the ss help to reduce would complement the same p as a he the building CO2 building’s requirement. l a n s a l further. One aspect Theoretically, this could one are th centre, bu a that r t of administration create an off-grid a equires ddition is the number generation of supply, waste, al thinking of paper letters albeit I would never i w sent to patients. suggest that a health more a hich is gett s ttention in The majority of centre is fully off-grid in receng citizens now have the risk is too high. times t email addresses so Lights, computers, a simple email would administration and waste be ideal and at zero cost. are all areas that need to be

There are the readdressed. Lights can be changed exceptions where some will need to to LED systems that have a much lower continue with physical letters, but as time per hour cost and better longevity, plus they moves on more and more are used to email are much brighter than previous energy saving as a main source of communication. bulbs. With the computer systems, it is more

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Procurement

Hospital sites can encompass all of the same plans as a health centre, but one area that requires additional thinking is waste, which is getting more attention in recent times.

Would it not be better for the standard and recyclable waste to be collected from one location avoiding the need for the collection lorry to travel around a site?

Offensive waste is a different matter entirely and needs a country wide approach.

A circular economy None of the ideas mentioned here are new; the NHS has multiple areas of interest and targets such as all NHS buildings must have LED lights by 2030, low emission generators and cooling systems with emergency generators being battery powered by 2025, along with electric vehicle charging stations in all car parks again by 2025. The plans are in place, the technology is available and getting better all the time.

It is no surprise that we all have to look towards a circular economy in order to stop the reliance on a limited resource of natural materials. How we can achieve this in an organisation that has to dispose of some of its waste for infection control is another matter. In light of recent events with the Covid-19 outbreak and the quantity of PPE that was required and then destroyed, it is understandable that calls for washable PPE are the way forward but the question remains how can this be controlled in a medical arena? This is where we have to embrace change, to encourage innovation with clear routes to market. There is no doubt that there are companies that can and have developed washable PPE, but will this product have additional requirements around it? Will it require specially developed washing machines, with new detergent?

When you look at the NHS as a single entity the task becomes too large. Instead, by breaking it down into the component parts, it helps to make it less intimidating And what would the wastewater be like, would it be safe or would that then have to go through a cleaning process? As always in sustainability, every question is subsequently answered by two more questions.

Right now it is procurement’s time to shine, the world has changed and one thing that Covid-19 has brought to the attention is being greener, the call for a greener rebuild and how air quality improved during the lockdown. Procurement can help achieve this target goal but it is down to all of us to look into each project and see how it can be improved, we need to stop the phrase of ‘business as usual’ and embrace the thought process of reimagining everything with a green sustainable tint to it.

Data produced by both the NHS and the British Lung Foundation (BLF) have shown significant improvements in air quality during the lockdown, that asthma sufferers found their symptoms were better and that we all noticed a cleaner environment.

The BLF reported “one in six people living with lung conditions in the UK say their symptoms have got better because of the fall in toxic air pollution since lockdown.”

The domino effect This is where the domino effect can come into play, by all of us making a transition to a more sustainable cleaner lifestyle it eases the burden on the NHS. Moving to walking or cycling to work, reducing the journeys

taken with cars by working from home, purchasing electric vehicles and clean air zones, all of which will not just reduce harmful emissions and particulates but will help with the overall health of the citizen, which will in turn reduce the demand on the NHS. Prevention instead of cure is a phrase that has done the rounds a number of times, and sustainability is exactly that. A council making a decision to close off an area to traffic to reduce pollutants can have a positive domino effect on the area, as the chances of citizens young and old developing breathing related issues can drastically reduce, and all of the health care required for this illness is no longer under the same pressure, so less trips to a hospital will mean less car journeys, along with all of the administration for the appointment and subsequent care.

A two pronged approach to NHS sustainability is going to be required. Yes there are the standard changes required like the LED lights and battery powered generators, but a wider picture has to be taken into account by the local area, by making the towns and cities cleaner and sustainable the effect will be felt by the local NHS which will by proxy become more sustainable. L

To see our wide range of solutions for the NHS please visit our dedicated web page.

If you want to find out more about making responsible buying decisions with CCS please visit our brand new web page.

Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Communications

Increased risk if NHS shuns communication technology Pre-coronavirus, research found that eight out of ten NHS Trusts were using video conferencing, but also warned that overly complicated solutions and lack of training heightens the risk of shadow IT amongst staff Data uncovered through a recent Freedom as efficiently and safely as possible of Information (FoI) request at the start during the coronavirus pandemic. of the year found that, although 80 per The research also found that where video cent of NHS trusts are implementing conference systems are overly complex, video conferencing technology, the it hampers communication amongst majority, some 56 per cent, don’t have staff, with the risk of staff shunning training programmes in place to ensure approved applications and turning to staff are using these systems correctly. shadow IT services, such as WhatsApp, This matters because support for the to communicate and share information.

N3 network for health and This could have a serious impact care organisations, with on the security and privacy of its integrated video patient data across the NHS. NH conferencing add-on, Following the publication staff pe S r will end this year, and of the findings, Mark f o r an incre m trusts will transition Loney, CTO at StarLeaf, d importa ibly to the Health said: “Effective and Social Care communication should They do nt role. n Network, which be the backbone for ’ t to be hin want does not have any Trust but the d ered by comple a built-in video evidence we’ve seen or collaboration suggests that when use comx, difficult to mu platform. faced with cumbersome technolonications The FoI request, video conferencing gy made by StarLeaf, equipment and limited sought to discover training, it’s easy for people the main tools staff are to turn to familiar tools such using to communicate and as WhatsApp. This puts Trusts at understand the key challenges facing NHS the risk of security breaches. NHS staff trusts when enabling staff collaboration. perform an incredibly important role. They It found that 74 per cent of trusts use don’t want to be hindered by complex, video conferencing as one of their primary difficult to use communications technology. means of communication, and that 48 per It’s important they can communicate, cent were planning to introduce virtual collaborate and share, with a video consultations or appointments via video conferencing solution that’s intuitively in the near future. Many have been forced simple, as well as reliable and secure.” to do so this year to continue operating Over 100 NHS organisations across England

are using StarLeaf video meetings and chat to keep both internal and external teams connected and make sure medical appointments, training and recruitment take place. Over 50,000 medical professionals are registered users of StarLeaf, the British competitor to Zoom, across these organisations, making over half a million video call minutes each day.

In total, StarLeaf is facilitating 11,181 scheduled NHS meetings each day, and has played a vital role in helping the NHS go virtual during the pandemic.

Coronavirus effect An August survey from the Medical Technology Group found that patients are embracing technology during the coronavirus pandemic, but still value reallife consultations. The research showed that 59 per cent of the 400 patients surveyed would feel comfortable going to hospital for an operation or treatment despite the coronavirus pandemic, with younger patients more comfortable with the prospect of attending a hospital appointment than their elders.

Nearly two-thirds of patients surveyed had either had a procedure - such as surgery, an investigation, or a treatment - or a GP or outpatient appointment postponed in the previous six months. Instead, 85 per cent had experienced some form of communications technology, such as a telephone or online video consultation since the start of the pandemic. E Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

Helping facility departments to work smarter, not harder

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However, it’s not just about growth. The solution has to help facility departments to work smarter, not harder.

In a world where everything is fast-paced and everchanging, it’s important to simplify the processes where they can be whilst maximising operational efficiencies.

This is where Asckey’s expertise and experience comes in. Asckey has supported clients with estates and facilities management software for over 25 years resulting in the latest version of their estates management software solution fmfirst® Estates.

• The linking of all defect and planned work to an asset. This history trail not only provides evidence of effective compliance and maintenance management but also helps to support the management of an asset’s lifespan.

• Linking an asset to a location, grouping them by type or utilising the optional SFG20 integration to simplify task management and maintenance scheduling.

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• Such data flow integration provides users with the logical simplicity essential for effective estates management and budget control.

Estates management made simple The fmfirst® Estates application ties together key operational modules such as help desk, management of planned/ad-hoc tasking, asset and compliance management. Alongside these are supporting modules such as full mobile functionality, document management, system security and reporting. Practical benefits of the of this module integration include:

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To request a free review of your current system or to discover more about Asckey’s fmfirst® Estates application visit their website.

www.asckey.com | sales@asckey.com | 01480 469001

Communications

 Additionally, 67 per cent found the experience of using this technology to be positive, describing it as either ‘excellent’ or ‘good’. Some 58 per cent said that communications technology compared favourably with face-to-face contact with their clinician, citing benefits such as eliminating the risk of infection (79 per cent) and avoiding the need to travel (75 per cent), as well as it being cheaper (42 per cent).

However, half of patients said they did not feel like they received a proper consultation (50 per cent) and a quarter (27 per cent) missed the social interaction.

Barbara Harpham, Chair of the MTG, said: “This research clearly shows that patients value the role that medical technology has played during the Covid-19 pandemic.

While virtual consultations are a good substitute for face-to-face appointments for discussing medication, referrals, and minor ailments, when it comes to diagnosis or physical examinations, there is no substitute for face-to-face appointments. More work needs to be done to determine precisely how this technology is used to help in the future. Patients’ experience of wider medical technology is extremely positive. It shows the role that medtech can play in getting the NHS back up and running, harnessing its benefits to build a better health service. Used properly, medical technology can get patients back to normal life quicker, make the NHS more efficient, and benefit society as a whole.”

NHS Digital Since March, a messaging and conferencing app has been available for free across the NHS, to counter the increased risks associated with coronavirus. NHS Digital rolled out the app to all NHSmail users between 16-20 March 2020, while health

The Clinical Communications Procurement Framework aims to support NHS organisations with dedicated clinical facing communication and tasks management tools, to accelerate the adoption of proven technologies and to phase out pagers by the end of 2021 organisations not using NHSmail were also able to gain free access to Microsoft Teams by applying directly to Microsoft.

Microsoft Teams provides secure instant messaging, direct audio and video calls between NHS colleagues and has virtual meeting capabilities. It can support remote and mobile working between NHS colleagues, helping staff to work and deliver advice during the coronavirus outbreak.

It is a secure communications platform and will be protected and monitored within the NHS Secure Boundary.

Clinical Communications Procurement Framework The Clinical Communications Procurement Framework aims to support NHS organisations with dedicated clinical facing communication and tasks management tools, to accelerate the adoption of proven technologies and to phase out pagers by the end of 2021.

The framework agreement has been designed to provide a compliant and convenient route to market for the NHS commissioners within England.

This includes NHS England and

Improvement, clinical commissioning groups, primary care networks, NHS trusts and NHS special health authorities.

It allows clinicians to access a wide range of communication tools all under one procurement framework agreement.

Participating authorities have the freedom and flexibility to make a direct award or undertake a mini-competition to meet the bespoke requirement of each customer.

The suppliers have been assessed to ensure that they meet all legislative requirements; therefore no formal tendering is required, saving valuable time and money in the procurement process.

The framework contains large national companies but also a healthy number of regional SMEs, and all can showcase their products via the framework, helping buyers to make informed local decisions.

Launched on 3 August, the framework duration will be until at least August 2022, but there is a possible further extension for 12 months in place. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.nhsx.nhs.uk

Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Panel of Experts

EXPERT PANEL COMMUNICATIONS How important are seamless communications technologies in ensuring that the operational systems of a hospital run smoothly and safely? Our latest Panel of Experts, from Radiocoms and Motorola Solutions, share their thoughts

John Charlton, Motorola Solutions

Dan Faulkner, Motorola Solutions

Julie Lewis, Radiocoms

Working for Motorola Solutions for just over four years and having been within the industry for over 19 years, John Charlton has a keen interest in Professional Commercial Radio, DMR Systems, MSI Sold and Supported Control Room Solutions, Push to Talk Over Broadband Fixed and Body Worn Video.

This year Dan Faulkner is celebrating having worked in the communications industry for over 20 years. He has since spent nine years in various roles at Motorola Solutions, including driving business development of DMR markets throughout Northern Europe.

Julie Lewis was appointed to her position as Business Account Manager at Radiocoms Systems Ltd in 2018.

Within her current role, she oversees the development and implementation of large infrastructure voice, video and data radio solutions for a variety of verticals in the private and public sector.

He uses this knowledge to introduce a powerful integrated solution which helps improve safety, focusing on, but not limited to, Safer Hospitals, Stadiums, Universities and Airports.

This year the NHS has been stretched like never before. Much of the reporting of how the health service has handled the coronavirus pandemic has centred upon the supply of personal protective equipment, or early lack there of, staff absence and illness, and, most noticeably, the space required within our hospitals to receive, treat and maintain the health of the sickest patients.

This has resulted in both the construction of a number of Nightingale hospitals to treat patients with coronavirus, and the cancellation of what is considered routine treatments, including cancer care.

Whilst this has been rightly acknowledged, and in some cases addressed by the government, an area that has gone

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More recently, he has been working on the Software Enterprise side of the business, where he has been responsible for forming the WAVE PTX broadband push-to-talk service offering recently launched throughout EMEA.

more unnoticed is how the coronavirus pandemic has interrupted communication channels within the hospital estate. Now more than ever before, as Radiocomms’ Julie Lewis points out, a connected workforce is a safe workforce.

Seamless communications technologies are vital in ensuring that the operational systems of a hospital run smoothly and safely. Hospitals are dynamic and event driven environments where every team must communicate effectively to make accurate and often critical decisions. This has always been the case, and over the last few years we have seen the increasing importance of data and digital technologies in supporting essential operational KPIs

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Her knowledge, experience and passionate resonates by being able to provide focused solutions to resolve their critical communication challenges and supporting their digital transformation journey.

to deliver both continuity and resiliency.

However, since the start of the pandemic, healthcare operations have found themselves not only addressing on site communication requirements, but also tackling processes to connect employees amongst varying facilities, such as urgent care clinics, support teams moving between sites and remote workers.

Julie Lewis believes that using real-time communication solutions paired with AI can serve many purposes including voice, video and data exchange amongst healthcare teams and patient location services, whilst enhancing external collaboration with other providers and public safety.

Moreover, solutions can also report on actionable and historical data that can

Panel of Experts

be generated from the software platform, in real-time. By creating efficient root cause analysis, she says, the data can support the drive to holistic decision making whether it be considerations for new safety measures or adjustments to operational workflows, for example.

John Charlton, of Motorola Solutions, is in agreement but suggests the value of considering the wider meaning of ‘communication’. In our discussion on seamless communications, John points out that when workers, equipment and processes all communicate and connect with each other, ‘everything else can happen more effectively’. An example of this is the Safety Reimagined initiative, which describes ways to help achieve this and one of the main verticals that Motorola Solutions is looking to cover is ‘Safe Hospitals’ - a modular ecosystem that unifies voice, data, video and analytics on one connected platform.

Safe Hospitals offers healthcare providers and security operations teams an end-toend security solution that covers a larger area with improved technology. Using Safe Hospitals solutions, customers can detect threats accurately, analyse data quickly, communicate information easily, and respond to incidents decisively. This, John says, helps deliver the certainty of safety you need to deliver on your promise of quality care and patient satisfaction.

Existing workflows Radiocoms knows that it is a critical consideration in the decision making process

to determine how any new communication technologies at a hospital or trust can be mobilised to support existing workflows by interacting with existing systems and supporting crisis management. They are a unique regulatory environment, but, Julie Lewis highlights, it is essential to consider the goal; operations managers are trying to strike a balance and maximise ROI on any communication system adjustments or new investments.

Any technology implemented should simplify and enhance workflows, not hamper them or force different behaviour due to short-comings of the equipment selected. Choosing the right solution can make it quicker, easier and safer for healthcare workers to carry out their jobs, allowing them to focus on providing care and not on getting the technology to work.

Julie uses research showing that 71 per cent of hospitals identify mobile communications as a priority to emphasise that, often, the organisation find users are dissatisfied with the ‘antiquated, analogue communication tools’ including overhead paging, landline phones and pagers which can be are poorly designed and not integrating with a workflow.

Healthcare estates are now in investing in mobile-based clinical communications platforms that can address existing security,

privacy, and compliance workflows. Ultimately, Radiocoms looks to deploy interoperable communication technologies that deliver better operational outcomes and patient care. Motorola Solutions technologies, for example, enable secure multichannel conversations (talk, text, video) that can be integrated with existing workflows whilst ensuring that sensitive healthcare-related data is protected according to industry standard requirements.

Equally, our panellists acknowledge that there may be times that modifying a workflow in order to allow the introduction of a new technology makes sense when it drives an overall improvement and, in those cases, it is crucial for the healthcare professionals and technology supplier to work handin-hand to create the best outcome.

Which brings our conversation towards how existing technologies and services, such as those provided by Radiocoms and Motorola Solutions, connect healthcare estates on one platform to create a more efficient and safer environment.

Statistics show that 75 per cent of workplace assaults occur in healthcare settings. Interoperable technology platforms can increase collaboration and create E

Time in matters are c a health and setting nication mu miscom d to poorly can lea d decisions informe actions and

Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

Creating Safer Hospitals Ensure your hospital is resilient and can adapt to a wide spectrum of emergencies and operational disruptions. Explore a unified ecosystem combining voice, software, video and services, designed to help hospitals maintain a safe and healthy environment.

In unprecedented times like these, the demand for healthcare services is ever increasing.

Patients have ever-growing expectations about the safety and quality of healthcare services, whilst staff are dealing with more complex situations. With numerous secure areas that contain sensitive and critical inventory and patients’ hospitals must ensure these areas are constantly secured and monitored to prevent unauthorised access and theft, incidents, or perimeter breaches, for example.

How can Motorola Solutions products & solutions support safer hospital measures?

Since the pandemic hit the UK there have been various news articles published by the UK media reporting on crime within the NHS. For example, the BBC and the Independent have both reported on cases of theft of PPE, oxygen, hand sanitiser to food donations.

A large majority of hospitals already operate one, or more of Motorola Solutions technologies. This could be CCTV, two way radio, body worn cameras or smartphone solutions. By bringing these technologies together to create an interoperable, robust system a healthcare facility can quickly and securely share information enabling clinical and non-clinical teams to take swift action.

Motorola Solutions’ four point ecosystem not only improves safety, but can boost morale, increase productivity, and reduce downtime.

threats and operational problems. Integrated video security using AI can create high visibility across your facility to support an action required. Push notifications to devices will ensure all personnel – across multiple teams – are informed of critical information simultaneously.

2. Analyse Identifying unwanted individuals, tracking persons of interest, and recognising hazardous situations in this environment is a demanding.

Appearance searches quickly and seamlessly explore video footage to record where a particular individual has been before and after a particular point in time. Integrated access control and badging provide real-time insights into personnel movements throughout the facility. Ultimately, these solutions and insights are crucial to cutting through the noise, locating points of interest and recognising which events are important – so you can make an informed decision to take action.

Two-way radio communications instantly and reliably connect security, administration, caregivers, staff and local first responders.

Broadband push-to-x extends your reach by enabling voice and data information to be shared across devices.

4. Respond Whether it is an everyday incident or an emergency situation, healthcare institutions need to communicate with each other to coordinate a response in the most efficient way possible. Being ready and aware is critical to ensuring your team can quickly respond to problems before they escalate.

Dynamic interoperability makes it easy to directly share data with first responders in real-time, enhancing situational awareness.

Incident management streamlines the logging of incident reports and makes it easy to share multimedia with other personnel.

Contact Motorola Solutions, Platinum Elite Partner Radiocoms Systems Ltd to discuss how adjustments and improvements can help overcome both your short and long term challenges. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.radiocoms.co.uk

1. Detect Securing your premises takes time and staff hours. From controlling multiple points of entry, monitoring staff, patient, and visitor movements, and securing and monitoring sensitive areas, detection plays a critical role in improving situational awareness and decreasing response times to potential

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3. Communicate Whether you are a security officer with an aggravated patient or an administrator dealing with an emergency, such as a perimeter breach, clear and timely communication is key to keeping your teams connected and informed.

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS | www.healthbusinessuk.net

Collaborating across departments At Motorola Solutions, Dan Faulkner is responsible for forming the WAVE PTX broadband push-to-talk service offering, recently launched throughout EMEA. He joins our panellist conversation as we begin discussing the benefits of bringing clinical and non-clinical staff together on one communication platform, noting that clinical and non-clinical staff work together all the time so allowing them to collaborate effectively will greatly enhance the smooth running of a department, building or entire facility and grounds. Those teams are already working every day to make sure their patients

How can NHS trusts, and their supporting organisations, ensure that any digital improvements do not negatively affect major infrastructural changes? receive individualised quality care while operating in a non-stop and unpredictable environment. Dan says that, by providing a unified communication platform, the technology can build a foundation of safety that becomes the centre that holds healthcare operations together ensuring staff and caregivers are able to focus on their mission.

Julie picks up on the non-stop and unpredictable environment that Dan mentions. As she highlights, time matters in a healthcare setting and miscommunication can, unfortunately, lead to poorly informed decisions and actions, especially in timesensitive situations. To combat this, smartphone solutions and secure mobile communications platforms can remove the need for a middleman to relay messages and address the mission and patientcritical communications requirements of one-to-one or cross-functional teams within a hospital and across a care trust.

Julie, an Account Manager at Radiocoms Systems Ltd, states that any successful implementation begins with a planning process and gathering feedback from clinical and non-clinical teams about their needs and pain points. Their combined experience and perspectives can help a project manager piece together a formula for success when putting together a plan to understand how to best map current workflows to communications solutions and create the required level of collaboration.

Axe the Fax Speaking at the GovTech Summit in Paris in November 2018, shortly after becoming Health Secretary, Matt Hancock set his sights on tackling the world’s largest collection of fax machines, responding to a panel question on how the leading figures on stage would measure successful of innovation in their respective organisations by saying: “When I am no longer the world’s largest owner of fax machines.”

His quip was in part a retort to the findings of the Royal College of Surgeons, who earlier that year revealed that nearly 9,000 fax machines were in use across the NHS in England, the largest anywhere in the world. In December of 2018 the Health Secretary announced a ban on the NHS from buying fax machines and ordered a complete phase-out by April 2020 - an achievement that has not yet been reached.

In fact, research from last year found that the trusts with the most fax machines in the NHS had collectively axed just 42 per cent of those machines in the past 12 months.

Which raises the question, how can trusts ensure that any digital improvements do not negatively affect major infrastructural changes? Dan Faulkner says that, as with any

Panel of Experts

 safer working environments, but, Julie Lewis points out, the NHS faces an increasing challenge to improve service while working under a shrinking budget.

It is the challenges such as these, as well as the more physical security challenges that John Charlton addresses. Challenges unlike any other enterprise, he says, such as patients, visitors and staff coming and going 24/7, valuable assets like pharmaceuticals and medical equipment to be secured and monitored and patients to be cared for and protected. To help solve those issues and more, Motorola Solutions has reimagined how the technologies used to help keep hospitals safe, can do even more to drive efficiencies, improve productivity and generate better outcomes.

Because safety, efficiency and productivity are deeply interconnected, by utilising the right technologies, you can be faster, smarter, more focused and more resilient.

Motorola Solutions has created the first and only end-to-end technology ecosystem that unifies voice, video, data and analytics on one single platform, providing you with the foundation of safety you need to address the unique challenges of your estate. The company has also combined its fixed and body-worn cameras, two-way radios, broadband communication devices, operations control room software and analytics into a single ecosystem that allows clients to detect, analyse, communicate and respond to events, whether they are everyday activities or unexpected incidents.

By focusing on structure, services, and varied technologies, Radiocoms draws on it’s experience to meet a healthcare settings’ key objectives to deliver positive outcomes for quality of care and patient safety. This could mean updating devices to the latest software to bring on board new functionalities, adapting a current two way radio system to integrate with operation control room software for greater visibility across an estate or adding discrete body worn cameras to support nonclinical teams in a public accessible areas where situations can often escalate and pose a larger security threat to hospital staff and patients.

The coronavirus pandemic has been a catalyst for change and with an already well established culture for continuous improvement, the NHS is driving forward with digital transformation to support agile working.

new technology, the operational requirement should be defined first, then solutions selected to meet those needs. In this case, the functionality provided by faxes and pagers can be delivered with alternatives.

For example, the two-way radios, produced

by Motorola Solutions, can be used to send text messages similar to a pager with the added advantage of being able to use them for voice calls. Alternatively, the company’s WAVE PTX broadband communication system again allows texting similar to pagers, but also allows multimedia messages such as pictures to be sent along with the text providing an enhancement over the pager use case. WAVE provides a cloudbased unified communication tool offer quick, efficient and encrypted voice and data messaging functionalities to allow multi-way dialogue between clinical and non-clinical teams. By working across different mobile devices and/or web based interfaces Radiocoms can support anytime, anywhere communications requirements.

Dan says that working with a skilled local supplier like Radiocoms, who themselves have the backing of a major manufacturer like Motorola Solutions, gives healthcare workers and trusts access to the expertise needed to collaborate on finding the best solutions for their specific operational requirements.

Julie Lewis is in agreement and says that pagers, despite having been the primary communication device in healthcare for an incredibly long time, cannot transfer the urgency of a situation and may cause underestimation of a situation.

An appropriate replacement device for establishing clinical communication should transfer information where there is voice or data, accurately and swiftly.

Smartphones, handheld devices such as two way radios and software applications are now being considered as suitable alternatives to replace pagers throughout 2021. But, at a local level there needs to be proper consideration as to how new systems will impact on workflow and interact with existing systems.

Lastly, healthcare systems with complex geographies and challenging construction can often experience poor Wi-Fi connectivity, they cannot afford to miss or receive intermittent messages or calls. For sites that do have problematic cellular coverage, Radiocoms recommends distributed antenna systems (DAS) and smart booster technologies that have been widely adopted to deliver a mobile signal. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.radiocoms.co.uk www.motorolasolutions.com

Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Facilities management

Time to seize the economic potential of the HIP Christian Norris and Louise Northrop discuss the scale of the Health Infrastructure Plan’s economic benefit and the need for further acceleration In the largest hospital building and the additional strain the Covid-19 programme in a generation, the pandemic is placing on the NHS, there is government recently announced an a strong argument for bringing forward investment of £3.7 billion between the delivery of the schemes in order to now and 2024 for 40 new hospitals. significantly reduce the downturn of By 2030 the infrastructure investment the economy over the next few years. required could rise to over £14 billion.

This would not only be driven by the The economic benefits this would influx of construction output when generate are huge. PA Consulting’s analysis building the new hospitals, there are shows that the construction work additional opportunities to: alone could create c.13,000level up the economy by 16,000 jobs per year between building construction now and the end of the components off-site and In total construction period, target areas of low 40 sche , mes generating £7.5 billion employment; grow will be i in Gross Value Added technology skills in n v e s t with sc (GVA) over the 10the workforce due to ope fored in, year period - two per increased investment other hospita ls to bid cent of total UK GVA. in life sciences for futu Given the current and Research and re state of the UK economy Development (R&D); fu

nding

reduce emissions via the modernised hospital estates; and lead to a healthier workforce and further economic productivity, through improved services.

What is the Health Infrastructure Plan?

The Health Infrastructure Plan (HIP) aims to invest in new hospitals, modernise primary care estates, advance new diagnostic technology, improve mental health facilities and help eradicate critical safety issues in the NHS estates. The aim of which is to ensure that NHS hospital estates are equipped to provide world-class healthcare services.

Six of the schemes are currently underway and are planned to be delivered in 2025. A further 21 have already been approved to be delivered by 2030. In total, 40 schemes will be invested in, with scope for other hospitals to bid for future funding. E

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What the HIP schemes mean for the economy An influx in construction jobs due to the HIP schemes could be just what we need in order to kickstart the economy, especially if we can bring the plans forward to soften the blow of the high unemployment rates and target the downturn at this crucial point in time. The government recently announced that £3.7 billion has been allocated to the HIP schemes over the next four years; a further £11 billion could be needed before 2030 to complete the construction of the hospital projects. As Figure 2 illustrates, if the scheme proceeds as currently planned, only a quarter of the jobs created will be seen before 2025, when the unemployment rate is forecasted to be reaching its highest levels.

Facilities management

 Current state of the economy The impact of Covid-19 has not only highlighted the necessity of delivering first-class NHS healthcare services, it has had a disastrous effect on the UK economy.

From June to August 2020, the number of redundancies grew to its highest level since 2009, with unemployment levels increasing to 4.5 per cent. Construction output has been heavily hit, with the August 2020 level being 10.8 per cent below the February 2020 level. The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts show that GDP will continue to fall for the rest of the year and unemployment rates could reach the highest level since the 1980s.

Past experience emphasises that high unemployment tends to persist, with the last two recessions taking seven years to return to pre-recession levels as uncertainty lingers. Furthermore, once people have been unemployed for long periods, statistics show their chances of finding a new job are markedly decreased.

Figure 1 illustrates how unemployment is predicted reach its peak at the end of 2020 and going into 2021.

Figure 1

An investment in 40 new hospitals could lead to significant improvements in NHS services and create a flood of construction jobs to stimulate output when we need it most Levelling up One of the arguments against progressing the HIPs is the potential disruption that the construction could cause to an already constrained NHS, particularly at this critical time. However, modern methods mean that much of the construction work can be carried out off-site. This also means that the economic benefits can be targeted in post-industrial areas in greatest need of jobs and investment, especially in areas outside of London. This would have

Figure 2

immediate benefit for UK hospitals and create export opportunities for British industry, with potential to distribute built components and construction capability to new hospital developments globally. This aligns with the government’s industrial strategy to put the UK at the forefront of global construction over the coming years.

Off-site construction has been successfully used in other large infrastructure projects.

For example, components of Crossrail were manufactured in the West Midlands, and Terminals 2 and 5 at Heathrow Airport dispersed the economic benefits of the construction across the UK, in areas such as Kent, Lancashire, West Sussex and Yorkshire.

Growing our capabilities in life sciences and R&D The investment in UK life sciences, necessitated by the programme, will also arguably positively impact patient outcomes and our national R&D. The life sciences sector is already a large component of the economy – generating £73 billion of turnover and employing more than 482,000 people. The government plans to harness this by further growing the sector and strengthening its comparative advantage as we leave the European Union.

Furthermore, the investment in R&D by the public sector generates ’spill over’ benefits, stimulating additional investment by private and public sector research institutions.

Research has shown that every £1 of public sector funding generates an additional £1.13 - £1.60 private sector funding . Such benefits should not be underestimated. E Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Facilities management

 Environmental impact The HIP schemes aim to have net zero construction and operational costs, leading to a reduction in carbon emissions within the UK. The hospital site receiving funding had a combined annual emissions output of 300,000 tonnes of C02e in 2018, amounting to a societal value of £4 million. The redevelopments could significantly reduce these emissions using smart infrastructure techniques to reap the environmental benefits throughout the life of the building.

For example, 11 office buildings across Manchester and Liverpool are among the first to demonstrate net zero carbon status.

Further uptake of these techniques will go a long way in addressing the property sector’s part to play in the government’s ambition to become carbon neutral by 2050.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.paconsulting.com/industries/government-and-public-sector

Healthier workforce The investment in life sciences and improvements to NHS facilities and services will also lead to a healthier workforce, reducing sickness leave and improving UK output. The ONS estimates that 141.4 million working days were lost due to sickness or injury in 2018.

This is not helped by estimates showing that the prevalence of longterm health conditions is on the rise, which make up 70 per cent of all inpatient days. This is predominantly true of areas of deprivation, which will be hardest hit by the economic recession. It is therefore more important than ever to provide the working population with the healthcare services they need to ensure a productive workforce.

Covid-19 has put great strain on both our healthcare system and our economy. An investment in 40 new hospitals could lead to significant improvements in NHS services and create a flood of construction jobs to stimulate output when we need it most. Targeted off-site construction could further combat output in areas hardest hit by the crash. However, delaying the plans to a point where unemployment and output figures are beginning to recover is likely to mean that we see a reduction in economic returns to the healthcare investment. To have the greatest impact on reducing the economic consequences of Covid-19, an injection of capital is needed as soon as possible. The HIP schemes have the platform to provide this, if we act quickly. L

Christian Norris is Head Economist and Louise Northrop an economics expert at PA Consulting, the global innovation and transformation consultancy.

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Facilities management

Supplying the NHS with all of its Soft FM needs A new £500 million procurement framework has been launched by NHS SBS to offer high-quality soft facilities management services to the NHS A £500 million procurement framework framework is regionalised across all 32 was launched by NHS Shared Business lots and includes a range of SMEs, service Services in August offering high-quality specialists and large national providers, saving soft facilities management services to the valuable time and money for public sector NHS and wider public sector. The Soft FM, organisations wherever they are across the UK. Asset Compliance and Security Services The experience and capability of the approved Framework provides simple, cost-effective suppliers has been robustly tested as part access to a wide-range of specialist services. of our comprehensive procurement process.

With average indicative savings of It means framework users can have full five per cent compared to buying direct confidence in the essential services provided, from a supplier at list price, the potential without needing to carry out their own cost saving for the public sector is complex and costly procurement exercise.” expected to be up to £25 million.

The framework has 32 different lots that Hard Facilities Management cover everything from asbestos removal, The Soft FM, Asset Compliance and Security active and passive fire safety, CCTV and lift Services Framework complements a number maintenance; to cleaning and laundry services, of existing NHS SBS agreements, including the pest control, and grounds and gardens Hard Facilities Management Framework, which maintenance. Providing complete flexibility provides a compliant route to access a full to the NHS, local authorities, educational range of hard facilities management products establishments and any and services. This Hard FM covers a wide range other public body, the of estates and maintenance specialisms, agreement includes including but not limited to: painting an option to and decorating; kitchen equipment The procure single maintenance; plumbing services; framew services, and building management o average rk has bundled systems. This facilities indicati services or management framework savings ve of five a complete offers flexible options to per cen compar managed meet your requirements; t e d to buyi direct f solution. from delivering a single ng rom a s It will run service, to a bundled service u p pli at list p until summer provision, or the option for a rice er 2022 with the fully managed service solution. possibility of an extension to 2024.

Upon its launch, Phil Davies, Director of Procurement at NHS SBS, said: “This new

Free to access for all UK public sector bodies, the Hard FM agreement is running until the end of August 2021. It provides potential saving opportunities of between five-ten per cent.

Another NHS SBS framework due to expire next year is the Design, Furniture and Appliances agreement, which provides soft facilities management services from a carefully selected range of qualified suppliers.

This framework has a wide scope; from office furniture and redesign, to bedside equipment, white goods, smart vending solutions and water coolers. The framework accommodates single use, a bundled service or a one stop shop. The framework also offers consultancy services, and service and maintenance.

Set to finish on 11 September 2021, albeit with the option to extend for 12 or 24 months, the framework agreement covers a wide range of specialisms over 21 lots, utilising both SME and national providers, to deliver either a single service, bundled service or provide a one stop shop for a wide range of services.

This includes Workplace Consultancy Services; Bariatric Furniture; Non-Medical Theatre Equipment; Catering Equipment Solutions; and Domestic and Commercial White Goods.

With a slightly longer run time, ending on 31 March 2022, the Construction Consultancy Services framework provides a compliant route to access construction consultancy services for the NHS and public sector organisations.

This framework covers construction consulting services for traditional design build, new build projects, and refurbishment projects. There are 12 lots included within this consultancy framework for building services, including; architectural services, project management and principal designer services. E

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Facilities management

 NHS Nightingale North-West The coronavirus pandemic in 2020 created a unique procurement challenge, requiring multiple field hospitals to be set up within days to provide intensive care to affected patients.

NHS Shared Business Services worked with Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) to equip the NHS Nightingale Hospital, based at the Manchester Central Convention Complex. The teams pooled their expertise to identify, source, order and deploy over 10,000 items of equipment, enabling the new hospital to open on time on Easter Monday 2020 after a preparation period of less than two weeks.

The global shortage of many essential items such as critical care beds and volumetric infusion pumps meant that many of the trust’s usual suppliers were unable to meet the demand, forcing the team to search elsewhere.

Drawing on the combined knowledge and supplier relationships held by the individuals within the team was essential in procuring all necessary items in time for the hospital’s opening. Items that were proving difficult to find were shared with a growing list of well connected colleagues within NHS SBS, who were often able to open their address books to provide leads that would have been otherwise unexplored. In the relatively few cases where it was simply not possible to source to an exact item specification, a suitable closest alternative was negotiated and approved by the appropriate clinical lead.

The facility provides much needed support to hospitals across North West England

The coronavirus pandemic created a unique procurement challenge, requiring multiple field hospitals to be set up within days to provide intensive care to affected patients for as long as required, treating up to 650 patients at full capacity. In less than two weeks, through effective collaboration and teamwork, over 10,000 individual items of clinical equipment along with all necessary clinical consumables and Personal Protective Equipment were identified, purchased and deployed ready for use.

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre Liverpool The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust opened its major new hospital in Liverpool in June 2020 to transform cancer care for patients in Merseyside, Cheshire and beyond.

To help ensure the state-of-the-art facility opened to patients on time and to budget, the Healthcare Improvement Solutions team at NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) helped to fully equip the 11-storey, 110 bedroom hospital.

Tasked with delivering a flagship new cancer hospital to provide highly specialist care to the region’s 2.4 million people, PropCare Ltd - a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust - turned to NHS SBS to lead on all aspects of furnishing and equipping the new Clatterbridge Cancer Centre Liverpool (CCC-L) within budget and on time.

With pioneering treatments, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy and radiotherapy, and cutting-edge facilities for diagnostics and imaging, a clinical decisions unit, day case and outpatient treatments, bone marrow transplant and clinical therapies, the brief for NHS SBS was to create an aesthetically pleasing ‘nonhospital’ environment for patient treatment and recovery, and for relatives and employees.

The challenge was made all the more difficult when the coronavirus pandemic hit at a critical time in the project, just a few months before the planned opening date. This led to difficulties sourcing critical products in the face of huge levels of demand from across the NHS and more widely.

The team managed the purchasing process through NHS SBS’s portfolio of compliant procurement frameworks, running mini competitions to achieve the best possible value for the trust. They also facilitated design development and worked with suppliers to provide 3D visuals, which allowed key stakeholders to visualise the furniture and proposed design ahead of ordering.

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Tasked with delivering a flagship new cancer hospital to provide highly specialist care to the region’s 2.4 million people, PropCare Ltd turned to NHS SBS to lead on all aspects of furnishing and equipping the new Clatterbridge Cancer Centre Liverpool within budget and on time professional, very knowledgeable and responsive. They worked very closely with our clinical staff and architects on furniture and equipment selection. The result has been a great success, with furnishings that complement the building aesthetic extremely well. Patient feedback has been excellent too.

“Due to Covid-19 we commissioned the hospital in just four weeks. NHS SBS was on site working alongside us throughout, managing a compressed equipping installation period and working with the supply chain to secure deliveries as close to the planned schedule as possible - despite the unprecedented challenges of wider NHS demand. I would not hesitate to partner with NHS SBS again and would recommend them to others requiring a total equipping service.” L

Established by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) in a unique partnership with digital experts Sopra Steria, NHS

Facilities management

 specifications for furniture and equipment with multiple stakeholders; validating capital equipment costs; creating an equipment database and managing procurement packages; aggregating the requirements and running a series of compliant procurements to equip and furnish the new hospital; accurately reporting forecasted expenditure costs for all medical equipment and furniture, and providing assurance to the project accountant; and liaising with contractors and suppliers to co-ordinate delivery and installation of items in line with the build programme.

Throughout the project NHS SBS was conscious of the need to keep patients at the heart of key decisions. When reviewing chemotherapy chair suppliers, for example, the team arranged a trial to give patients the opportunity to test different options and select the preferred product. Patients can now appreciate views of Liverpool’s cityscape from a comfortable chair as they undergo treatment.

The team reacted to programme changes by managing suppliers and rescheduling deliveries at short notice, whilst making sure the trust’s aesthetic and practical requirements were maintained. For instance, when it looked like a global shortage of patient beds could lead to a delayed opening, NHS SBS worked hard to successfully source and secure an alternative supplier at late notice.

Summarising the success of the partnership on behalf of The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust, Fiona Jones, director of PropCare, said: “The support from NHS SBS was excellent. The team was flexible,

Shared Business Services delivers modern corporate services to the NHS, which improve efficiency and quality, save time and money, and support world-class patient care.

The case studies used in this article are from NHS SBS. More details on both the NHS Nightingale NW and Clatterbridge Cancer Centre projects can be found on the NHS SBS website.

The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre Liverpool has just been shortlisted for a Health Business Award, within the Hospital Building category. You can find out more about the shortlisting, as well all the other nominated NHS organisations across the 18 categories on page 15.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.sbs.nhs.uk/fas-soft-fm

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Advertisement Feature

Reflecting on the second Covid-19 wave; four key learning points for facilities management to lead the way The Covid-19 pandemic has thrust the facilities management outsourcing industry into the spotlight, and at ISS Healthcare, we believe that we have proven our worth

As we are now facing the second wave, we must continue to move forward from what we have learned from the pandemic already. ISS Healthcare was at the forefront of the Nightingale Hospitals, helping launch the flagship NHS Nightingale Hospital London. When it opened in May 2020, Sir David Sloman, NHS Regional Director for London, said: “Thank you. What you have achieved at the Nightingale has been truly extraordinary. We need to bottle it; we need to learn from it.”

ISS, along with the other major FM providers, have stood shoulder to shoulder with our healthcare colleagues on the frontline of the nation’s response. We have provided critical care to our communities while at their most vulnerable. We have brought to public attention the importance of cleaning, catering, portering and support services, all of which are helping to keep everyone safe during these uncertain times.

Now is the time to reflect on our experience, take forward those lessons learnt and commit to this new way of working; this new level of collaboration; this new public sector image.

Since coronavirus hit us all we have had to be flexible in our service delivery, whilst the safety of our own employees has never been more important, so what can we, as an FM industry working in the public sector, learn from the last six months? Catherine Horne, Commercial Director for ISS Healthcare and the Contract Director and Mobilisation Lead for the NHS Nightingale Hospital London, considers:

industry’s reputation as a profession of choice. During the pandemic, we at ISS saw colleagues transferring across from other sectors into our healthcare business.

Initially, people wanted to contribute towards our nation’s efforts against Covid-19. But through the process, they discovered a new career path that encourages teamwork, decision-making and makes a tangible difference to the people it serves.

Now more than ever, the solutions we as FM companies provide to hospitals, care homes, community health centres and the social care sector are just as important to the patient as the services delivered by the clinical teams and allied health professionals. We are now classed as key workers, partnering our colleagues to deliver outstanding healthcare across the country. Our teams have remained on the frontline of this pandemic from day one.

At NHS Nightingale London, ISS were the pathfinders, we put all staff through our training Academy to develop their practical, sector-specific skills and gain a detailed understanding of the hospital environment. We empowered them to go the extra mile for the end customer and to take pride in their work. We have new employees who were so passionate about their roles that they have since permanently transferred into the healthcare industry, knowing that they can make a difference.

1. FM in healthcare – a reinvigorated career choice Our teams have gone above and beyond for the healthcare sector, raising the FM

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BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS | www.healthbusinessuk.net

2. Re-energising the sector – putting decision-making back at the forefront Accountability is too often a buzzword.

Business in general tends to cluster decision-making at the top and forgets to pass that responsibility down to the frontline. At ISS we fundamentally believe our people are our most important asset, it is embedded in our Core Values. Therefore, we energise them to make decisions that are in their customers’ best interests.

But throughout the pandemic, healthcare bodies and FM providers shifted their focus.

We were trusted to be industry experts, and we showed what was possible when we took ownership of our services. Regular staff briefings to establish the point of truth; open communication channels to share ever-changing information and guidance; bringing our partners to the table with us – all of these made us quicker, more decisive, and more resilient.

It was no longer about silos, but about each provider playing the part of an accountable expert with ownership and decision-making capability to effect real change. A problem in the morning can be a solution in the afternoon and became part of normal operations by the evening.

Timing is everything during this pandemic – swift action is often the difference

3. Doing away with unnecessary bureaucracy In a pandemic, it is vital to adhere to certain established procedures. But governance should support operations, not hinder them. It should be championed by senior management to drive forward solutions and escalate issues through the Bronze, Silver and Gold command structure. At London Nightingale Hospital, we cut through red tape because we had to act quickly for our patients. We organically removed bureaucracy from our working relationships, acting as a single team with a single purpose – to save lives.

As FM providers and leaders, we have a responsibility to keep driving this forward. It is vital that we learn from what we did differently during the first wave and now. We should retain our status as equal partners with the NHS, rather than reverting to the more traditional and onerous contractual relationship.

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between life and death. Our resourcing strategy, which ensures that our hospital contracts have the right level of staff as and when they were needed, put people in the right roles at the right time. With support from our senior leaders, we can make decisions and see them through efficiently.

With all our partners in the same room, we can mitigate against single points of failure. We have all the experts working together, so when we do things differently – such as turning operating theatres into ICU wards – we have the confidence to think outside the box. We have trialled solutions, and if they did not work, we learned from any mistakes and moved on.

There can be no blame culture because there is no time. We remain agile; we adapt quickly; we have all improved consistently.

Being ‘One Team’ was a key factor mentioned by Natalie Forrest, Chief Operating Officer, NHS Nightingale Hospital London.

She said: “Everyone has come together as one team regardless of what our background is or what our titles are and focused on saving lives. Thank you very much. I am very proud to be part of the NHS.”

4. Pooling resource and removing competitive edge Our industry has shifted in a myriad of ways over the last decade. We are now more outcome-focused, embracing technology and smart working to drive solutions forward.

Our clients in turn examine our outputs – the end benefits that our services can bring to patients, staff and visitors – rather than supplying a specific level of resource.

During the pandemic, we have become true collaborators. We are trusted to deliver when it matters most, and we, to date, have succeeded. We need to keep this momentum going, to build on the relationships we have forged and focus on those outcomes as our mutual partnership goals.

We need to learn from the second wave too. We will be expected to deliver to a greater standard than before – now we have proven our capability, we must raise the bar we have set for ourselves even higher.

At the NHS Nightingale Hospital London, we trained our staff in providing healthcare FM services from our nearby Sunborn Yacht Hotel facility. Across the Thames, the NHS set up an equivalent training facility at The O2. The next step here is to bring the two together, with clinical caregivers and allied health professionals

learning alongside hospital porters, cleaners and hospitality operatives.

A true collaboration during the second wave should involve everyone learning and developing together, batting Covid19 through a joined-up approach. The ISS Academies can play a key role in this partnership, training trust and FM employees under a single academy.

We have the infrastructure, so we can easily remove those restrictive elements of competition and commercial advantage. True transparency will help build the strongest possible defence against the pandemic.

How to remain in the room where it happens The pandemic has brought the importance of FM into sharp focus. The industry has a responsibility to learn from the last six months, to take on board the ways in which we came together to help the country navigate through this crisis. We cut waste from our processes, threw complicated rulebooks out the window and focussed solely on our core commitment to look after our patients. And it worked.

As FM providers, if we want to keep our seat at this new table, we need to continue to prove our worth. We need to show that we can be long-term partners with the NHS, delivering solutions together that benefit patients, clinical staff, allied health professionals and visitors alike. In everything we do, we must have the right people in the right place to make decisions with purpose.

People make places – FM can connect the two to make the healthcare industry continue to work better. L

For further reading, Service Futures represents the most important visions, trends and insights for the future of service, facility management, the workplace as an experience, HRM and outsourcing. To find out more visit our website or contact us directly below.

FURTHER INFORMATION enquires@uk.issworld.com www.servicefutures.com

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Energy

Hospitals need energy a lot of energy Hospitals are blessed with large buildings, which means large roof spaces. This article from the Solar Trade Association suggests that it is time that hospitals started to manipulate this space to save energy The MRI scanners, dialysis machines, x-ray machines and heart rate monitors all need electricity and, more often than not, need to run 24/7. The lights are on round the clock. Air conditioning units and refrigeration requirements are also very high. Hospitals need a lot of electricity.

With budgets tight, and getting increasingly tighter, all that electricity can represent a significant cost. With volatile energy markets, and expected price rises over the coming years, controlling, and bringing down, those costs allows for greater flexibility in other areas. What hospitals often do have, however, is lots of roof space, and that space needs to be considered an asset, rather than just empty space.

Save on your energy bills The main benefit for going solar is that it is a cheaper way of getting electricity when compared to buying in power from the grid from your usual supplier. If you

have high power demands seven days a assume that you are purchasing power at week. This can make the business case stack around £100 MWh, after grid charges and up even with zero government support. policy costs, a solar system with a Power Purchase Agreement might be able to How to finance supply you with electricity at £70-80 MWh. your solar system Government schemes, such as the Feed-in There are various business models that Tariff which pay you a set amount per unit can be used to pay for a solar installation. of energy created, have complications and The simplest is to pay for the installation caps, and the low rates mean they make outright and earn your investment up less of the business case for solar. For back thanks to energy bill savings, and a hospital this shouldn’t matter, as they generation tariffs if you qualified. Secondly, are far more likely to achieve the holyif the institution doesn’t have funds grail of commercial solar available to pay for the system installations – 100 per outright you can look at cent self-consumption.

Hospita ls borrowing the money.

Whereas other h ave hig But the most popular commercial h power option is financed or buildings may only d e m ands seven d funded solar. This is use 50-70 per cent where an external of the power their This canays a week. investment company system generates, m a ke the busines pays for the installation as they are closed s c up even ase stack and sells the power to on weekends and with ze the hospital. The E holidays, hospitals

r govern ment o suppor t

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Advertisement Feature

Alternative solutions for energy efficient process heating and hot water Hospitals all over the UK have been utilising ARI-Armaturen’s impressive range of engineered systems. ENCOsys® plate heat exchangers have been a major solution for companies looking for a proficient heating and hot water system that will ensure a secure and economical future for their site Based on these factors, ENCOsys® can be approximately seven per cent more energy efficient when compared to a basic shell and tube heat exchanger.

One of the most significant savings however, is that unlike shell and tube heat exchangers, ENCOsys® does not need to be stripped down for insurance inspections allowing for further cost savings, reduced downtime and dramatically improved health and safety risks associated with this work.

With so much pressure to reduce spend and improve energy efficiency measures, many organisations have been forced to adopt demanding targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions and are therefore looking for alternative solutions to update energy and heating systems.

Reliable and resourceful systems Offering reliable and resourceful systems with considerable savings in energy and cost (when compared to more traditional systems such as shell and tube calorifiers), ARI-Armaturen’s ENCOsys® is a compact, low maintenance steamto-water plate heat exchanger.

Suitable for various applications including domestic hot water, low temperature hot water, and process heating, these innovative units are currently in operation in many healthcare sites and hospital plant rooms over the UK. Designed to provide hot water instantaneously whatever the load conditions up to 2100kW, there is no

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need for a water storage vessel. Having no water storage vessel is an added advantage because it also helps to eliminate a potential breeding place for Legionella and other bacteria’s, therefore reducing the requirement for regular inspections.

Sites with ENCOsys® units installed benefit from improvements to operating efficiency with reduced heat loss from equipment, improved temperature control as well as better thermal efficiency, all resulting in vast improvements to operation efficiency and energy savings.

This system is more responsive to changes in the secondary operating conditions resulting in far tighter temperature control.

Generally, the water temperature leaving shell and tube heat exchangers tend to cycle in a pattern similar to a sine wave which means the temperature set point may have to be set higher to ensure the unit meets the required load at all times. By using the ARI-ENCOsys®, temperature control is considerably improved, typically providing an estimated three per cent energy saving.

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS | www.healthbusinessuk.net

Compact design Another benefit of the ENCOsys® heating systems is that the physical design is extremely compact, with the largest unit occupying around 3m3 and the smallest unit occupying less than 1.5m3 resulting in a smaller footprint than many other alternatives on the market as well as allowing for significant savings in valuable floor space.

Nicholas Davies, ARI-Armaturen UK Ltd’s Sales Director, said: “By heating the secondary water and sub-cooling the condensate in the same plate heat exchanger, substantial energy savings can be achieved and the cost of ownership is further reduced because improved energy efficiency means lower fuel bills and low CO2 emissions.”

ARI-Armaturen boasts a wealth of knowledge and technical experience in energy management systems so from assessing your initial requirements, through to conduction of surveys to final commissioning, the installation process can be completed in a short timeframe, leaving you rest assured that you have been provided with a quality product and quality service.

This range of well-engineered, packaged solutions from valve specialists ARI-Armaturen UK Ltd come fully assembled to specific requirements and tested ready for connection.

See how ARI-Armaturen can help you cope with rising energy costs – contact the UK sales office on 01684 275752 or email inquiries@uk.ari-armaturen.com. L FURTHER INFORMATION 01684 275752 inquiries@uk.ari-armaturen.com https://www.ari-armaturen.com

There are substantial savings to be made, and with energy prices looking increasingly volatile the ability to control costs is becoming increasingly attractive to all kinds of organisation  hospital pays nothing upfront and buys the electricity generated by the system from the investment company more cheaply than grid electricity through a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Maintenance is usually covered for the duration of the term.

Here are some key questions to ask before entering into a PPA: what is the PPA rate? What is the price per kWh of electricity offered? How does that compare with what you pay at the moment?

How does it inflate each year? Is there a guarantee to ensure that the PPA will not be higher than the prevailing market price for electricity? Does the hospital have to buy all the electricity generated even if not used on site? (This is less likely for a hospital, but some PPAs will require the building to buy 100 per cent of the electricity even when it doesn’t use it all.)

Car parks or a mini solar farm?

Roofs may not be the only place to put solar on a hospital’s estate – although for urban hospitals it’s probably your best bet.

Solar canopies can be considered for the car park; they can supply both the hospital itself as well as any electric vehicle charging points and as a bonus provide shelter for patients getting in and out of cars.

An option for rural hospitals that perhaps own a considerable amount of land around the estate is a ‘mini solar farm’ or ground mount solar array. This can then be used to supply the building with what is called a ‘private wire’ connection. If considering

a ground mounted system it is important to think about the area around it, many solar farms are doubling up as areas of high biodiversity through the sowing of wildflowers around the panels.

Solar thermal To date the biggest solar market has been for solar panels that generate electricity – called photovoltaic solar or PV. However there is also the alternative option of solar thermal hot water heating.

Hospitals have considerable hot water requirements for showers and catering.

Solar thermal hot water installations are typically cheaper than solar PV panels, and subsidised by the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) which means that the technology has similar rates of return on investment and similar payback periods as solar PV. Contrary to misconceptions, solar thermal relies on light, not heat, to heat the water, so can continue to work even with outside temperatures below freezing.

It is worth nothing that the RHI is currently under review, with the results due out by the end of the year. One of the proposals is to take solar thermal out of the RHI. The exact details of all government support for solar systems are changing quickly, so always check what you are eligible for.

How to do a solar install If you decide to go ahead with a solar install, it is usually worth engaging the services of an experienced independent consultant who

Energy

can draft a technical specification document.

The consultant can also liaise with the installer as well as inspect the finished system prior to handover – this should give you some additional peace of mind.

However if you do want to deal direct with your solar installer or oversee the process the Solar Trade Association has developed a management toolkit called the Commercial Solar Rooftop Confidence Checklist. This is freely available from the Solar Trade Association’s website.

Below is a brief summary of some of the key things you should be asking for: What to ask your installer: • Ask to see sample risk assessments and method statements from previous similar projects • Ask to see design statements covering things like lightning protection and how fire risks will be minimised and managed • Obtain confirmation that the roof will be assessed and signed off by a qualified structural engineer • Ask to see samples of all structural and structural design assessments undertaken for similar projects and confirmation they will actually be provided for the project in question • Require detailed justification (including energy modelling) of the system as designed including component selection (panels and inverters) • If the operatives working on-site will be directly employed or subcontracted, and if they will be DBS checked • Confirmation that the contractor will obtain permission to connect to the grid under G59, and ensure that this will be provided before works commence • Confirmation of what kind of system monitoring will be provided to ensure no faults – and consider also using a public display in e.g. a waiting area so that your staff and patients are aware that the building is solar powered • Check whether the installer is a member of the Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) and the Renewable Energy Consumer Code (RECC) Conclusion Solar has a lot to offer hospitals – a green and cost effective way of generating at least some of the power they require.

There are substantial savings to be made, and with energy prices looking increasingly volatile the ability to control costs is becoming increasingly attractive to all kinds of organisation. The policy framework for solar is changing, so make sure you stay up to date with the latest subsidy offering, but installing solar on the roof of a hospital could well still be a very canny investment for your site. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.solar-trade.org.uk

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Recruitment

International recruitment campaigns: Five steps to success In what ways can recruiting healthcare organisations mitigate potential risks at both the recruitment stage and once the candidate has arrived?

The NHS Long-Term Plan was published in January 2019 setting out goals to provide a new service model to reduce rising inequalities and pressures within the system. This kickstarted the process of rethinking the healthcare workforce.

Healthcare provision ultimately rests on its people, and the reality is that NHS frontline staff have been performing with increasing vacancies, coupled with increased demands.

To carry on in this way is not sustainable and a different approach is needed.

Following its interim predecessor, the NHS People Plan 20/21 was published in July of this year. The plan sets out practical steps to improve workforce capability including looking after its people, creating a sense of belonging and new ways of working, as well as a drive to reduce vacancies. There are currently an estimated 50,000 vacancies in nursing alone.

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Five steps to success The need for international Successful campaigns begin recruitment campaigns by considering these five Whilst domestic recruitment Collabo policies are highlighted in rating crucial questions: the plan, it is recognised with ot 1.What are you hoping that to fill this volume of h t r u s t s streng er to achieve, and can vacancies international thens econom you collaborate recruitment campaigns with other trusts? are necessary to help the secures ies of scale, r e NHS realise the vision of c r u i t m pipeline At first glance this their Long-Term Plan. s and a ent might feel obvious: Most hospital i d s r e tention ‘I want to attract trusts who have used and retain staff from international recruitment overseas’, but which staff in the past know that it can groups, and by when? Band 5 be fraught with difficulty. nurses can be straightforward, but Thankfully there has never what about those more difficult groups, been as much help available to like mental health and community? support your international recruitment Collaborating with other trusts strengthens campaigns as there is today.

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Recruitment

economies of scale, secures recruitment pipelines and aids retention. Would it be advantageous to work with other trusts either in your region as a system, or other peers in the same sector, for example, mental health?

2. What risks need to be considered?

As an international recruiter, you need to think about three groups of risk:

Cost: international recruitment is costly, not just in terms of the candidate fee but also the costs associated with benefit packages, OCSE preparation and examination.

Candidate quality: gaining access to quality candidates at interview reduces the risk of drop out further down the process.

Retention: retaining workers is really important.

Most hospital trusts who have used international recruitment in the past know that it can be fraught with difficulty.

Thankfully there has never been as much help available to support your international recruitment campaigns as there is today This article covers ways you can mitigate these risks at both the recruitment stage and once the candidate has arrived.

3. What countries can you source from?

Source country and ethical sourcing are important factors in any recruitment campaign. The UK government has published a list of countries where you should not run recruitment campaigns. The latest information on sourcing countries can be found on the NHS Employers website.

Traditionally the Philippines, India and UAE have been countries used by international recruiters, but the current Covid-19 pandemic has prompted the need to consider other avenues and diversify source countries.

4. How do you contract with an international recruitment supplier?

You have a choice of running your own tender or using an NHSEI approved framework, such as the NHS Workforce Alliance International Recruitment framework. This holds several advantages over local tender:

Track record: frameworks offer access to suppliers that have been accredited to uphold ethical practices, and have a proven track record in international recruitment.

Speed: frameworks offer direct award and further competition routes to market - both are quicker than local tender.

Competitive pricing: compared to non-framework routes.

Expert advice: experienced category teams are on hand to provide trusted help and support.

5.What can I do to retain our international staff?

This last consideration underpins all the others: the whole process is about the individual. Lots of effort goes into getting the process right - campaign, professional registrations and such - but you need to focus as much effort on supporting your new employees through the cultural differences of working in the NHS and living in the UK. Think about how you would feel living and working in another country. What challenges might you face? What would help you settle? What are your career aspirations?

What support is available in the local community? Are there local cultural, sport or hobby groups you can connect with?

Experience suggests that the difference between a new recruit staying one year or 20 years very often rests on the worker’s initial experience of arriving in the UK. Help and support There’s plenty of help you can call upon.

The first point of reference for any prospective international recruiter should be the International Recruitment Toolkit published by NHS Employers, which contains practical advice and case studies.

Other sources of help include NHSEI and NHS framework category managers who can offer impartial advice based on experience. And of course, your local NHS Workforce Alliance partner is on hand to provide trusted and expert support. L FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 0345 410 2222 www.workforcealliance.nhs.uk

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Recruitment

The health and social care workforce post-Brexit Neal Suchak, Senior Policy Advisor at the Recruitment & Employment Confederation, discusses the challenges facing the health and social care sector after the 1 January 2021 To say this year has been like no other for the health and social care sector is an understatement. The sector has faced its toughest challenge since the founding of the NHS. Staff on the ground have worked flat-out to deal with coronavirus. However, even before coronavirus hit, the NHS was already dealing with chronic workforce shortages; with 100,000 vacancies, including 40,000 in nursing and 120,000 in adult social care. The vital role that agency workers play in supporting the NHS cannot be underestimated, and we must get staffing in the health and care sector right.

Where are we now The Brexit transition period will end on 31 December 2020, at which point the UK and EU’s relationship will be governed, depending on the outcome, either by the EU Withdrawal Agreement and a potential free trade agreement (FTA), or if no deal is reached, WTO rules. FTA negotiations have continued in the background over the summer and autumn, and are currently reaching crunch point.

Whether a new relationship is agreed or not, the end of the Brexit transition period will impact patients in the UK. Access to medicines or access to treatment when travelling or living in the EU will be affected,

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not to mention the UK’s standing as a worldnumber of nurses and midwives from the class clinical research hub; the details European Economic Area (EEA) on its of this are unsure at present. register has fallen for the last However, the ability of the three years in a row. Numbers NHS and social care system arriving from Spain, Italy, Creatin ga to recruit staff will Romania, Portugal workfo r remain one of the NHS’ and the Republic of c e m t hat use odel biggest challenges, Ireland have slowed s a joined hybrid particularly in to a trickle. However, u p the midst of this overall there is a bank anof substantive global pandemic. new record number will be d agency sta , of people on the needed f f to ensu Is funding the register – 716,607. i n o r d e r answer?

Last year brought safety i e that patient r Last year the Prime the single biggest s maint ained Minister pledged ever annual increase to recruit 50,000 of 18,370 to the total. more nurses into the But the NMC said that in NHS; welcome news at the the future only a fraction of time, but is it achievable? Boris the number of overseas nurses and Johnson was later forced to admit that midwives would come to the UK because of 19,000 of the 50,000 increase in numbers international travel restrictions to reduce the would come from better retention of those spread of Covid-19. That, plus the temporary already in the NHS. The government has closure during the pandemic of test centres at least reintroduced financial support for where new arrivals have their skills assessed, student nurses and midwives, of between means that about 1,000 fewer nurses and £5,000 and £8,000 a year, in a bid to boost midwives came over throughout the early the number of staff trained in the UK. part of summer. As the pandemic appears to Nevertheless, data from the Nursing and be heading towards a second wave, these Midwifery Council (NMC) shows that the restrictions are likely to remain in force.

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Recruitment

In August, new government funding was announced to double nursing apprentices.

The package worth £172 million will help to train thousands more apprentices and will enable healthcare employers to take on up to 2,000 nursing degree apprentices every year over the next four years. Nursing degree apprenticeships provide a route into nursing where people can train to nationally recognised standards and ‘earn as they learn’, benefiting those for whom a fulltime university course is not an option.

Adding to the shortage occupation list?

The NHS in England employs around 1.3 million people, with a further 300,000 across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. No one can deny the contribution that EU and non-EU workers make to the NHS and care sector, and concerns have been raised about international recruitment after Brexit.

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) - which provides independent advice to the government - has recently reported on the new immigration system that will come into operation when the transition period with the EU ends on 31 December 2020. The MAC set out its recommendations for additions to the Shortage Occupation List (SOL), which includes senior care workers and nursing assistants.

The NHS Confederation’s interim CEO Danny Mortimer welcomed the additions to the SOL, but stressed that ‘social care workers in less senior roles must also be taken into consideration in any new immigration system, as their role is just as important in caring for some of our most vulnerable people’. This is a key gap in the government’s plans and something the REC have previously raised with government.

The MAC warns of the stark consequences of low wages in social care and has called for jobs within the sector to be made more attractive to UK workers by increasing salaries rather than relying on migrants.

These changes alone are unlikely to end the nursing workforce crisis, particularly given the length it takes to qualify. The government must therefore look to remove barriers that prevent overseas-qualified, and much needed, health and care professionals from working in the UK. The introduction of free visa extensions for health workers during the pandemic has been welcome, as has the removal of the health immigration surcharge, but more must be done.

Furthermore, with rising unemployment and sectors such as retail and hospitality struggling, there needs to be funding to enable those who want to retrain and help in the care sector to do so.

Utilising the agency sector Agency staff have always provided a vital lifeline to the NHS, and this has been very evident during the pandemic. A recent REC poll of health and social care recruiters found that almost 50 per cent had seen an increase in demand for agency health and social care workers during the coronavirus crisis alone.

They provide the NHS with the extra support that it needs in times of increased demand and are vital in ensuring patient safety.

Furthermore, specialist health and social care recruiters are experts in workforce planning, and are perfectly placed to identify where problems lie and offer immediate solutions.

Behind the scenes, recruiters have been working round the clock to keep wards and care homes going. One of the largest REC members made almost 8,000 healthcare placements between March and May this year at the height of the pandemic. Without these experienced agency workers, many more people would have potentially lost their lives.

At the start of the pandemic, Helen Whately, the Minister of State for Care, wrote an open letter to healthcare recruitment agencies, calling upon them to work in constructive partnership with the NHS during the pandemic. The REC followed this

up with a Healthcare Manifesto, setting out our roadmap for how specialist health and social care recruiters can help at this time of national emergency. We outlined four steps which would help bridge staffing shortages and ensure that recruitment professionals are partners to the sector during the Covid-19 crisis and its aftermath.

Working together Nurses and midwives make up the largest numbers of the NHS workforce, and it’s been very fitting that this year has been designated as the Year of the Nurse and the Midwife by the World Health Organisation. A substantial part of this workforce is made up of temporary workers - highly qualified, experienced and fully vetted staff who help support the NHS and care sector. Creating a workforce model that uses a joined-up hybrid of substantive, bank and agency staff will be needed in order to ensure that patient safety is maintained, delivering a health service fit for the future.

Agency staff fill around 15,000 nursing and medical vacancies every quarter, as well as other support roles. The most effective way for this contribution to work going forward is through a formal partnership between the staffing industry, the Department for Health and Social Care and the NHS. This could take shape in many ways – for example, a stakeholder forum to drive cooperation in workforce planning, or a partnership to review and set standards in recruitment.

But this spirit of collaboration must continue beyond the pandemic and beyond Brexit, and lead to real changes in attitudes. We are all striving towards the same goal – a well-functioning, efficient health service with a fantastic record – and the expertise and experience of agencies will be vital in making that a reality. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.rec.uk.com

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Advertisement Feature

Formulation matters when tackling a pandemic Nine months into the pandemic, Chris Wakefield, Vice President, European Marketing & Product Development, GOJO Industries-Europe Ltd. explains why hand and surface hygiene is more important than ever

Infection prevention experts have long lauded the benefits of hand hygiene.

Together with social distancing and face masks, it has become widely accepted as one of the most effective ways to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

Nine months on, a sense of pandemic fatigue has begun to creep in, with the World Health Organisation recently reporting that ‘people are feeling demotivated about following recommended behaviours to protect themselves and others from the virus’.1 This increased complacency to infection prevention is worrying, particularly as we find ourselves in the midst of winter. At a time of year when seasonal infections such as influenza, norovirus, coughs and colds peak, we must not relax our attitudes to hand and surface hygiene.

During the colder months, people spend more time indoors. This provides viruses with the perfect opportunity to be transmitted, since they thrive in confined environments where people are in close contact with each other. The coronavirus can spread through the air, especially in indoor spaces. Scientists have acknowledged the role played by the transmission of aerosols – tiny contagious particles exhaled by an infected person that remain suspended in the air of an indoor environment. Scientific modelling has shown that the risk of catching coronavirus increases sharply in poorly ventilated settings, especially if the occupants are not wearing a mask2.

However, aerosol transmission is not the only risk when inside a building. Viruses can

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also spread indirectly via hands and surfaces and survive for longer than you might think.

Preliminary investigations suggest that coronaviruses, including Covid-19, may persist on surfaces for a few hours or up to several days,3 whilst another study has shown that fourteen people can be infected by touching the same object one after the other4.

Hand and surface hygiene clearly have an important role to play in curbing the spread of both coronavirus and other seasonal infections.

The pandemic prompted a huge influx of new products to market, so considering the greater choice currently available, product selection is even more key. The best products are not only effective, but also help to boost compliance.

Proven efficacy During a pandemic, product efficacy is arguably the most important product attribute. Hand and surface hygiene products simply must be effective against germs and bacteria – but some work more quickly than others. In a healthcare setting, speed in sanitising hands and surfaces is critical to minimise the risk of any dangerous pathogens being transferred to vulnerable patients.

Earlier this year, PURELL® Advanced Hygienic Hand Rub and PURELL Surface Sanitising Spray and Wipes were tested against coronavirus (surrogate virus BCoV), according to EN 14476 standard and passed with a contact time of just 30 seconds.

They also conform to key hospital norms EN 1500 and EN 12791, assuring that they are safe for use in healthcare settings.

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS | www.healthbusinessuk.net

Boosting compliance Considering the frequency with which healthcare workers must practice hand hygiene, it is critical that the formulation is not only effective, but is also kind to skin and enriched with moisturisers to keep it healthy and feeling soft. According to research, 59 per cent of healthcare workers seen in occupational skin disease clinics set up during the Covid-19 pandemic were found to be affected by irritant contact dermatitis due to an increased use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and frequent hand washing.5 Dermatitis can lead to two major problems.

Firstly, people are less likely to wash hands as often and as thoroughly as they should, for fear of aggravating their condition. Secondly, cracked or damaged skin is more susceptible to colonisation by transient micro-organisms.

The consequences of which increase the risk for transfer of potentially pathogenic micro-organisms to a susceptible patient.

Contrary to popular myth, choosing a hand sanitiser with moisturising properties, such as PURELL Advanced Hygienic Hand Rub, can be a friendlier choice for skin than soap and water.6 It is perfect for when hands are not visibly soiled, helping to keep skin healthy, feeling soft and refreshed.

When it comes to infection prevention in a global pandemic, formulation matters. Sanitising products must make fast work of killing germs effectively and, particularly in the case of hand hygiene solutions, offer a pleasant user experience to help increase compliance. L FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: +44(0)1908 588444 infouk@GOJO.com www.GOJO.com https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/ who-europe-discusses-how-to-deal-with-pandemic-fatigue 2 https://english.elpais.com/society/2020-10-28/a-room-a-barand-a-class-how-the-coronavirus-is-spread-through-the-air.html 3 https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses 4 Barker J, Vipond IB, Bloomfield SF. J Hosp Infect 2004,58:42-49 5 “Occupational dermatoses during the COVID-19 pandemic: a multicentre audit in the U.K. and Ireland”. I. Narang,1 H. O’Neill,1 D.A. Buckley,2 T.A. Phillips,3 C. Bertram,4 G.A. Johnston,5 D. Thompson,6 T. Bleiker,1 N. Stone,7 J.E. Sansom,8 S. Abdul Ghaffar,9 M.M.U. Chowdhury,10 L. Kiely,11 S.M. Cooper12 and P. Banerjee13 6 Boyce JM, Kellher, S., Vallande N. Skin irritation and dryness associated with two hand hygiene regimens: soap and water handwashing versus hand antisepsis with an alcoholic hand gel. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 21:442-448,2000 1

Coronavirus

The good, the bad and the not yet known What is the current state of hospitals in the UK? Are the Nightingale Hospitals helping ease pressures on the NHS? And what does the vaccination news mean in practice?

By all accounts, this week has been one Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine of ups and downs for the government and First things first - the vaccine. This week, our health service. First we had the news the UK became the first country in the that the UK’s medicines regulator, the world to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech MHRA, had approved the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, paving the way for coronavirus vaccine for use, promoting plans mass vaccination. The MHRA, Britain’s for roll out the week beginning 7 December. medicines regulator, says the jab is safe However, for all the euphoria of the to be rolled out and offers up to 95 per vaccination approval, notably Education cent protection against Covid-19 illness.

Secretary Gavin Williamson letting his pride Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the overwhelm his sensitivity, we now also NHS will contact people about jabs and that know that the UK has the highest death rate the first doses are already on their way to from coronavirus in the whole of Europe, the UK, with Pfizer saying that 800,000 are and the fifth highest in the due in the coming days. The UK has already world. More than 60,000 ordered 40 million doses of the jab people in the UK enough to vaccinate 20 million people. have now died There has been come confusion as to In term within 28 days who will get the vaccine first, with of deat s of a positive health staff, previously touted as 100,00 hs per 0 coronavirus first in line, now likely to have , a s a resu of coro test, meaning to wait for the vaccine to be l t n that only the given to elderly people in care UK is th avirus, the e seven US, Brazil, homes and care home staff, and highest thIndia and then those aged over-80, before country Mexico have getting the two jabs themselves. g lobally recorded more The good news about the deaths as a result vaccine arrival from a logistics point of the pandemic. of view is that the majority of English Looking at hospitals already have the facilities to the statistics from a store the vaccine at -70C. As this is required, different point of view, the UK has had it would make sense for the very first more deaths per 100,000 than any of vaccinations to take place those aforementioned nations. In terms there - whether that be of deaths per 100,000, the UK is the NHS staff or patients seventh-highest country globally. could be decided by The first milestone was hailed as a priority system. confirming the UK’s place at the head of the This, however, also elite when it comes to medicine and science, means that, for the second, unfortunately, has the country the time being placed too highly on a unfavourable list. at least, the So, what is the current state of hospitals rollout of the in the UK? Are the Nightingale Hospitals Pfizer jab to helping ease pressures on the NHS? Has care homes the second national lockdown stemmed would be the flow of the virus? And what does the particularly vaccination news mean in practice?

difficult, especially care homes in remote locations, because of how it needs to be stored. There is the added complication that the vaccine can only be moved once when it has arrived at UK hospitals, and moving it can only be achieved in batches of 1,000. Even taking into consideration the numbers of care home residents and staff at large sites, this is likely to result in many vaccines being wasted. The likely solution will involve NHS hospitals running clinics, allowing NHS and care home staff to get immunised first as well as, perhaps, some of the older age groups who come into hospital.

Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s deputy chief medical officer, has claimed that up to 99 per cent of coronavirus hospitalisations and deaths could be avoided with the first wave of vaccinations The Pfizer/BioNTech jab, made in Belgium, is the fastest vaccine to go from concept to reality, taking only 10 months to follow the same steps that normally span 10 years.

The free vaccine will not be compulsory and there will be three ways of vaccinating people across the UK: firstly, as mentioned, in hospitals; secondly at dedicated vaccination centres, which Matt Hancock said would be ‘a bit like the Nightingales project and including some of the Nightingales’; and lastly, in the community, with GPs and pharmacists.

Approximately 50 hospitals are on stand-by and vaccination centres - in venues such as conference centres or sports stadiums are being set up now. E

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Coronavirus

 What it means for NHS workers As well as the priority listing that should see NHS staff receive the vaccine before Christmas, the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine approval could mean that doctors could begin to see a return to a normal situation. Unfortunately, the change of pace to working patterns may be more likely to be seen next year, with the already overstretch health service staff now facing the monumental effort to rollout the vaccine quickly and effectively.

Danny Mortimer, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents organisations across the healthcare sector, said: “Our members across the NHS have already done a great deal of planning for this moment but there are still questions to be ironed out quickly and support needed to ensure the process works as well as we need it to. We need to see effective coordination at national, regional and local levels and support with logistics and the appropriate technology to ensure we are recording who has been vaccinated in the correct way.

“We also need a clearer explanation from the government that stretched services and depleted teams will need to deliver vaccinations alongside all their other responsibilities: there will be a difficult and unwanted impact on other areas of service, and politicians need to support NHS teams by being much clearer with the public about this longer term consequence, which the recent spending review did not do enough to address.

“What we cannot do now is let our guard down. The virus is still with us, is still dangerous and our health and social care sectors are under enormous pressure.

It is crucial that everyone sticks to the rules and does what they can to control the stem of the virus this winter. We now need to see more detail, including about the priority groups to receive the

The good news about the vaccine arrival from a logistics point of view is that the majority of English hospitals already have the facilities to store the vaccine at -70C. As this is required, it would make sense for the very first vaccinations to take place there vaccine and it is important to see health and social care staff among them.”

As nursing staff play a crucial role in all vaccination programmes, the Royal College of Nursing has said that it expects to be involved in the planning of the coronavirus vaccination rollout. With millions of vaccines expected to be administered, the college stated that it’s possible that nursing support workers, nursing associates and student nurse members may be called upon to assist. It has also stressed that nursing staff administering the vaccine must be appropriately trained and supervised.

Helen Donovan, RCN Professional Lead for Public Health, said: “Vaccines have proved themselves to be among the most effective public health measures available for controlling diseases. Vaccinating those who need it safely and as quickly as possible will be challenging. It is clear that it will need input from across the system and from various health care practitioners to ensure safe and timely programme delivery.

“As nurses, we are at the forefront of vaccine delivery and we know we are trusted by the public. It is vital that the health care workforce is equipped to build public confidence. Nursing staff will be fundamental to the administration and delivery of this vaccine, as they are with all vaccines. They are highly skilled and have the knowledge needed to support the Covid-19 immunisation programme.”

Improvements or misleading data?

The vaccination news also followed data from the Department of Health and Social Care showing that people taking PCR swab tests are receiving their results faster, thanks to improving turnaround times. This means that people who receive a negative test result can get back to their normal lives sooner, while contacts of those who test positive can more quickly be contacted, breaking those chains of transmission that enable the virus to spread.

Additionally, the proportion of contacts reached by the NHS Test and Trace service has increased from 60.5 per cent to 72.5 per cent, thanks to measures such as improvements to the digital self-service, which makes it faster and easier to provide tracing information, as well as changes to the process for contacting under-18s in a household.

However, despite the statistics indicating improvements, NHS Providers has warned that national NHS statistics do not reflect the true pressures on the health service, and is stressing the need for caution in considering coronavirus restrictions, which the government has now voted in favour of.

A briefing from NHS Providers says that although national level data on bed occupancy and hospital demand may appear to be manageable, this is not a good guide to the pressures on the NHS. E Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

E

Ramfoam is one of the UK’s leading PPE suppliers, providing frontline workers in public and private health sectors with highly effective facial visors that give wearers added protection.

The RamfoamCare+ Visor was originally developed by Midlands-based foam conversion specialists Ramfoam in May 2020 to directly address the growing need for PPE for NHS staff.

Today, Ramfoam supplies over three million visors to the NHS each week, and have since opened up their supply chain to accommodate private healthcare organisations including dentists, optometrists, private clinics, therapists and any other public-facing healthcare staff.

While official advice about the most effective PPE continues to evolve, it is widely accepted that wearing a visor as well as a mask offers users the highest degree of protection from COVID-19. Masks cover the nose and mouth, but since the eyes are also a potential infection point, wearing a RamfoamCare+ visor offers significantly more security.

These innovative visors are tested and produced by experts to ISO 9001 standards, and are fully BS EN 166:2001 certificated. Manufactured in Britain at Ramfoam’s dedicated facility in the West Midlands, they feature two market-leading components; a Plastazote® Foam Headpiece and a Melinex® FS1 Optically Clear Visor.

Plastazote® is a latex-free, non-toxic and hypo-allergenic closed-cell foam. Widely used in medical markets, it features a closed-cell structure which prevents the ingress of sweat, liquids and aerosols which can harbour bacteria - any liquid is therefore restricted to the surface.

The foam headpiece is used with an Optically Clear Visor made from Melinex® FS1 which has an anti-static and antifog coating for high visibility. Built-in face mask harness points on the visor reduce ear injury by other PPE products.

The headpiece can be easily cleaned, disinfected and sterilised by washing it with soap and water, while the visor can simply be wiped down with antibacterial cleaners. Both materials can even be placed in a dishwasher for a deep clean.

Both the visor and foam headpiece are presented in an easy, self-assembly kit that can be put together by the wearer in seconds and adjusted to fit their head shape and size. There is also a name tag area for personalisation, and the visors can be ordered in your company logo or in a range of colours to maintain consistent branding.

As well as the added protection and security these visors provide, there are numerous environmental benefits to RamfoamCare+ Visors. Both the main materials can be recycled, and because they are supplied flat, they are distributed in lower volumetric shipments which reduces their carbon footprint throughout the supply chain.

As we move towards what could potentially be a difficult winter, RamfoamCare+ visors will help to give health workers and their patients a greater reassurance and peace of mind that their environment is safe and protected for the months ahead.

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Coronavirus

 It explains why running a hospital is much more difficult and complex than normal due to coronavirus, because of the pressing need to treat three sets of patients: those with coronavirus; those caught in the backlog of planned care; and those requiring emergency treatment.

NHS Providers says that trusts face difficult challenges in managing these competing priorities, which are not captured in the national data on demand and bed occupancy. For example, slower or disrupted planned surgery caused by limited theatre space, time consuming donning and doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE), and the need to convert elective surgery recovery wards to treat coronavirus patients.

Nightingale hospitals The briefing also tackles misconceptions about the figures for intensive care units and the use of Nightingale hospitals, which were always intended as a last resort insurance policy to avoid the NHS being overwhelmed. NHS Providers says that the figures for intensive care units (ICUs) are not a good indicator of hospital pressures because they only account for a small proportion of a hospital’s total bed base, and many more coronavirus patients are now being treated on general wards without the need for ventilators.

The Nightingales, oft maligned in the first wave of the pandemic for not being used,

NHS Providers says that trusts face difficult challenges in managing these competing priorities, which are not captured in the national data on demand and bed occupancy remain at a bit of a crossroads. Only last week, officials in Exeter said that the city’s Nightingale Hospital will receive its first coronavirus patients, transferred from Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust.

Construction work on the Nightingale site in Exeter started in May and was finished in July.

Since then it has been used for diagnostic tests throughout the summer, including around 200 CT scans and 100 ultrasounds.

A spokesperson for the Nightingale Hospital Exeter said on 25 November: “The Nightingale Exeter will accept patients tomorrow who will be transferred from the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust (RD&E), which is very busy. We would ask that the public continue to observe the government’s advice on observing the lockdown and social distancing so that we can keep patients safe.”

Manchester University NHS Trust medical director Professor Jane Eddleston announced that Manchester’s Nightingale

hospital would reopen at the start of November, saying that the facility set up at Manchester Central conference centre will be used as a facility for patients to have additional rehabilitation.

In Bristol, the NHS Nightingale Hospital will not fulfil its original intended purpose, which was to accommodate more coronavirus beds, but will instead be used to provide additional capacity for Bristol Eye Hospital and Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.

The hospital opened at the end of April, inside a conference centre at the University of West of England’s Frenchay campus. It was designed to provide 300 intensive care beds for coronavirus patients, if hospitals in the region were struggling to cope with their existing capacity, but was not used during the first wave of the virus. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.gov.uk

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Ergonomics

Ergonomics to support the Covid-19 response Without embedded experience within healthcare organisations the application, evidence and business case for human factors in NHS decision-making will not be developed The Chartered Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors (CIEHF) responded to the first wave of Covid-19 by setting up a GoldSilver-Bronze command structure in April 2020. Over 100 members volunteered to support projects, from Chartered members to Associate members (including many clinicians). There were collaborations with many organisations, including Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine (FCIM), Intensive Care Society (ICS), Academic Health Science Network (AHSN), NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and Nightingale Hospital London, Clinical Human Factors Group (CHFG), Royal College of Speech & Language Therapy (RCSLT).

The concerns about availability of ventilators offered the first opportunity to support the NHS. A rapid response project was initiated to support the design, development, usability testing and operation of new ventilators.

Dr Mark Sujan commented: “We really hadn’t planned the ventilator intervention, but the way it came about was that an official guidance document was issued for rapidly manufactured ventilators. But from our perspective, it lacked a lot of essential information and it couldn’t ensure that these ventilators would actually be safe to use.”

A five-step approach was taken to (1) assess the Covid-19 situation and decide to formulate a response; (2) mobilise and coordinate Human Factors/Ergonomics (HFE) specialists; (3) ideate, with HFE specialists collaborating to identify, analyse the issues and opportunities, and develop strategies, plans and processes; (4) generate outputs and solutions; and (5) respond to the Covid-19 situation via targeted support and guidance. The response for the rapidly manufactured ventilator systems (RMVS) has been used to influence both strategy and practice to address concerns about changing safety standards and the detailed design procedure with RMVS manufacturers.

Four guides were published: COVID Ventilators - the methods and approaches needed to capture the full range of user requirements; Usability Testing for Rapidly Manufactured Ventilator Systems; Bedside Action Cards for the care of ventilated patients; and Routine Care for Tracheostomy Guide.

In parallel with the ventilator project, the CIEHF was also working on other Covid-19 responses. It was recognised, for instance, that health and social care teams would have to rapidly adjust how they worked to the new situation, and guidance was developed.

Prof. Paul Bowie explains: “That meant looking at how things are done and how

healthcare staff interact with patients.

There are a lot of procedures, protocols and guidance that dictate how the work is carried out, and health and social care teams are sometimes not very good at properly designing procedures to reflect this and to get these things to be usable and sustainable.”

Organisational learning and achieving sustainable change The pandemic has put health systems under significant strain in coping with new demands and challenges. It became clear to us that established management approaches (centralised control) were being replaced with more agile and creative leadership from frontline staff, with improvements and changes being implemented bottom-up drawing on professional expertise.

As a result, there have been adaptations at all levels of the health system, such as the reintegration of recently retired staff, rapid uptake of technology, and the repurposing of wards for acutely ill patients. Many staff are

now eager to reflect on how they managed to successfully provide safe and effective care during the first wave of the pandemic, and they want to see positive change sustained.

We worked with a panel of HFE consultants, designers, occupational health practitioners, occupational hygienists, scientists, and clinicians to capture practice changes and improvements to contribute to organisational change at policy, strategic and operational levels. The CIEHF guide (figure 1) provides an explanation of how systems thinking and organisational learning can contribute to sustainable change https://bit.ly/312JSEx. Mark Sujan comments: “The CIEHF has set a precedent, and others can now look at our guidance and aim to produce similar documents for their sectors, for example, pharmaceuticals.

We’ve illustrated how the institute can make a difference, and it’s now a matter of embedding it into the way that CIEHF works.”

Figure 1. Mindset and Action: two key areas in achieving effective organisational learning. E

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Weather Shelter: Built on 20 years’ experience

Pro-tect are a Hertfordshire based start up that is revolutionising the way weather shelters are constructed. By negating the need for ground works, foundations or floor fixings they can install their shelters in just a few hours. This is something that has proven incredibly popular within the healthcare industry as it minimises the disruption caused to the day-to-day running of an organisation.

For over 20 years brothers Toby and Daniel lead the way in the exhibitions and events world managing a multimillion pound company that designed and delivered projects for many of the FTSE 250. Then along came Covid-19 and the world as they knew it was turned upside down. Both brothers are driven and creative and it wasn’t long before a new business idea came along - Pro-Tect Structures.

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The shelters were born out of the Covid crisis; with queues forming outside hospitals and other healthcare facilities, patients were getting soaked whilst waiting for their appointments and prescriptions but

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there wasn’t a structurally certified product on the market, some health centres even began using unsafe plastic marquees!

Using the brothers knowledge of construction, project management skills and extremely high levels of customer service, Pro-Tect is fast turning into one of the leading suppliers of semi-permanent weather shelters and structures.

The range includes: Vaccine Shelters, entrance shelters;covered walkways, staff screening shelters and smoking shelters They have already supplied structures from Somerset to Dunfermline; to clients including Northampton General Hospital, Cygnet Healthcare Services and Ramsay Health. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.pro-tectuk.co.uk

 Professionalising Patient Safety At the CIEHF our members have been leading and supporting safety in many other industrial sectors (aviation, defence, oil & gas, nuclear, rail etc.) for decades.

We feel that the NHS has not yet taken safety seriously; it has been estimated that there are fewer than five professionally qualified Human Factors Specialists across 223 NHS trusts - one for every 300,000 NHS England staff in contrast to the National Air Traffic Services (NATS), an ultra-safe organisation which has one Human Factors specialist for every 100 staff. Policy recognition of the need to close this gap would illustrate a strong commitment to professionalising patient safety.

Our profession focuses on integrating humans and systems and brings knowledge and experience of a range of concepts, principles, standards, and methods to understand and resolve problems and issues routinely experienced in highly complex, dynamic systems. It was established in the 1950s and received royal chartership in 2015. It is ‘one of the first truly multi-, inter-, and cross-disciplinary subjects’ (Wilson, 2000), drawing knowledge from design, engineering, psychology, organisational management and human sciences (anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, kinesiology and anthropometry) and applying this to the safe and efficient design of systems, products and services.

We propose that a Professional Approach (Figure 2) should be taken to healthcare safety and this starts with targeted education and training for patient safety specialists, incident investigators (local and national) and other key personnel.

This approach is based on the NHS England/Improvement Patient Safety Strategy which sets out a framework to ensure that patients and staff have the right skills for being both involved in, and contributing to, patient safety.

This is reflected in our approach, which supports both the wider NHS employee base (levels 1 – 2) as well as aspiring patient safety specialists (levels 3 – 5).

Figure 2. aking a Professional Approach to Patient Safety At Level 1, we are offering an online course, based on our 2015-2020 workshops with Health Education England and NHS Education for Scotland, to provide an awareness of safety science and Human Factors for all staff.

At Level 2, healthcare staff (clinician and non-clinical) will build their patient safety knowledge relevant to their professional and role by taking one-day courses. This will provide an understanding of all the topics in the patient safety syllabus and develop professional competencies which can be taken forward in Level 3.

Achieving Level 3 will create professional patient safety (technical) specialists (local advisors) who have undertaken 600 hours of learning (taught, experiential and selfstudy), with mentorship from a Chartered Human Factors Specialist (C.Erg.HF). They will have a recognised accredited title: Technical Specialists (HFE in Healthcare) and postnominal of TechCIEHF. Levels 4 (organisational lead) and 5 (national lead) offer opportunities to change career and become a professionally qualified safety scientist (Chartered Human Factors Specialist; C.Erg.HF).

Level 3 is equivalent to the minimum Human Factors knowledge required for a Suitably Qualified and Experience Person (SQEP) in ‘JSP 912 Human Factors Integration for Defence Systems’ from the Ministry of Defence (2014); ‘equipment and systems have to be operated in a demanding and diverse military context in circumstances of fatigue, hunger, stress and even fear. Ultimately their usability in these demanding environments will determine our operational success’.

This informs all procurement, whereas in contrast the NHS has poorly designed systems, devices and products as procurement has been based on purchase cost alone. This has resulted in usability problems as well as problems of

The next steps in patient safety Most Human Factors healthcare input has been funded through research, with much of it based at universities rather than hospitals.

There are examples for acute care, primary care, emergency care, home care, medical device design, health IT, health systems design, architecture, simulation, education, and reliability. Studies have analysed systems of work, teamwork, decision making, displays, device interactions, risks, threats, performance shaping factors, environmental and organisational approaches, and regulatory influences.

One consequence of the lack of a professional approach to patient safety is that few opportunities exist in clinical settings for embedding qualified Human Factors professionals. Given that returnon-investment can be difficult to calculate, and effect on outcomes is difficult to measure in a non-linear system, a direct business case is still hard to make although the fact that Human Factors Specialists are integrated in the safety operations of all high-risk industries except healthcare should arguably be reason enough. This has created a chicken-and-egg problem, where Human Factors professionals have not been employed in healthcare organisations, because there has been a limited understanding of what they can do, no clear and immediate application, no business case, and no clear evidence base.

However, without embedded experience within healthcare organisations the application, evidence and business case will not be developed. Healthcare organisations need to know how they can employ Human Factors specialists and upskill key parts of the workforce who lack safety science knowledge and skills (e.g. patient safety advisors and quality improvement specialists) through accredited safety routes at comparative low cost.

The CIEHF have been working with Health Education England (HEE), Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB), NHS England/Improvement, NHS Education for Scotland (NES), Academic Health Science Network (AHSN), Academy of Royal Medical Colleges, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and others to create this innovative Learning Pathway. As we enter our first Covid winter, we believe that taking a professional approach to patient safety should be one of the highest priorities in health and social care to send strong reassurance to patients, families, staff and the public of the continuing importance of this issue. L

Ergonomics

maintenance, both of which, directly or indirectly, can compromise patient safety.

Written by Sue Hignett, Mark Sujan, Paul Bowie, Chris Ramsden, Peter McCulloch, Noorzaman Rashid.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.ergonomics.org.uk

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Advertisement Feature

Ensuring you stay on the right side of regulations Fire Doors Complete offers inspection services, dedicated fire door training and other services which will help ensure you stay on the right side of fire safety regulations and the law Without doubt the single most influential event regarding the building of fire safety in to new and refurbished buildings has been the Grenfell Tower Fire. The effects of that tragedy will be felt for many years and the construction industry will feel them more than most.

Since that event there has been much greater focus on the importance of fire resisting doors and escape doors in both new and existing buildings. Building operators have a legal responsibility to maintain fire doors and escape doors in efficient working order and good repair.

At Fire Doors Complete Ltd, we specialise in helping our clients meet the requirements of the applicable legal requirements, regulations and standards. We can do that for existing buildings, new buildings and for refurbishment works. There are three key areas where we can help: • • •

Fire door inspections Fire door consultancy Fire door training

Here’s what we can do for you: Fire door inspections Fire doors should be inspected periodically for compliance in existing buildings and it advisable to inspect new fire doors during and post installation works. We provide this services across many sectors including healthcare, housing, education and commercial & industrial properties.

With regard to existing doors at healthcare buildings it is important to identify the fire doors that are key to the safety of the people that use the buildings, we can help you identify the most critical fire doors and set-up an inspection and maintenance program to meet your legal obligations and help to keep the fire doors in efficient working order and good repair. Our inspection reports are easy to understand and will clearly identify which doors are compliant and which are not. We will not bombard you with unnecessary jargon but where doors are found to be non-compliant our reports will be clear about describing the necessary work required in order to make them compliant.

The period of time between inspections should reflect the importance of the particular doors in terms of how critical they are to safety of the people at the building and the type of wear and tear they are subject to. By helping you to plan inspection intervals and by providing clear and concise

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inspection reports we can help you target resources to where they are needed and help you to avoid unnecessary expense.

Where healthcare providers engage contractors to carry out refurbishments and to install new doors we can help to ensure the works are carried out correctly so that the doors meet compliance requirements and that the contractor delivers in accordance with the specification. Very often, new fire doors are not installed correctly and the building owner or operator is left with unsatisfactory fire doors and has to meet the cost of the necessary remedial works.

Our fire door inspection services will help you to stay legal, to stay safe and avoid unnecessary expense.

What is a competent fire door inspector?

The ‘Fire Safety Order’ became law in England & Wales in 2006 and the fire & rescue authority ceased to provide fire certificates.

Any certificate previously issued under the Fire Precautions Act 1971 is no longer valid.

This means building owners, occupiers and managers carry legal responsibility for fire safety at their buildings. Once the completed building is handed over the person or entity that controls the building must by law take reasonable precautions to ensure people are adequately protected, in a fire.

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So where fire doors have been incorrectly installed at construction stage it’s the building owner, occupier or manager that’s liable for prosecution where issues come to light. This may be due to a fire at the building or because of a visit from the local fire authorities. Any search of media stories covering prosecutions under fire safety law will reveal that such breaches are severely punished and more common than you might think. Especially where there’s sleeping accommodation such as in the housing, healthcare and leisure sectors.

Certificated Fire Door Inspectors (CertFDI) services are in demand to help building owners, occupiers and managers to improve standards. Their inspection reports carefully and comprehensively detail any installation faults, non-compliances and maintenance issues. CertFDI Inspectors findings are that the most common faults with fire doors stem from poor quality installation. These faults are often as basic as doors failing to self-close or having ineffective coldsmoke seals. So the CertFDI Inspector is the competent person under fire safety law that has brought these important issues to light.

Why do the Certificated Fire Door Inspectors findings matter?

Inspectors’ reports show that often installation faults are so basic that fire doors fail to self-close correctly and that

• • •

Door and frames misaligned.

Door to frame gaps too large Doors failed to self-close because closing-devices installed incorrectly.

• • •

Door leaves unsuitable to meet the severity of use in common areas.

Glazing not securely held in place.

No fire stopping to large gaps behind door frames.

Here problems stemmed from a combination of incorrect specification, incorrect product selection and poor installation. The same issues as highlighted by the Hackitt Review.

Fire door consultancy Of course, the best way to achieve compliance is to ensure the fire doors are specified and installed correctly from day one.

Our consultancy service provides you with an efficient way to help ensure that the doors will meet the requirements of the building users and be compliant with the necessary standards and regulations. Not only that but because we have complete understanding and experience of the many different types of door construction available, we can help to ensure the doors will be durable enough to meet the demands of the building users. Too often,

the specification is not sufficiently detailed and unsuitable fire doors are supplied and installed. Again, the end result is often that the building owner or operator is left with unsatisfactory fire doors and has to meet the cost of the necessary remedial works.

We know our fire door products and our consultancy services will help to ensure new or replacement fire doors are suitable for the type of use to which they will be put.

Advertisement Feature

the smoke seals, although installed in the door frame or door leaf, would fail to correctly restrict spread of cold smoke.

Where such faults exist the building would be unsafe in a fire and a threat to life would exist. Thick black smoke would spread and have a huge effect on safety of people trying to escape. If the fire door fails to self-close its not just the smoke that may spread and cause death or injury, the fire itself would be allowed to spread and render the escape route unusable. Where stay-put or staged evacuation strategies exist people seeking safety would be placed at risk because the spread of thick smoke is allowed to reach so called places of refuge.

A recent inspection of newly installed fire doors at a high rise block of flats revealed that the contractor performed so badly that they had to be brought back for a large program of remedial works. The fire door inspectors report revealed that:

Fire door training During the course of their life fire doors will require routine maintenance and repairs. We provide training for maintenance operatives so that they can understand the standards and requirements for the doors at your building to meet compliance requirements.

We specialise in fire door installation and fire door maintenance training and at our training centre in Queniborough near Leicester we can accommodate the needs of your personnel so that they are able to install fire doors and maintain them to prolong the service life of the doors.

How can improvements be delivered?

Many building owners now engage Inspectors to undertake post-works inspections so that contractors may be held accountable and brought back to rectify non-compliances.

Building owners are consulting Inspectors to assist with specifications so that compliant installation can be better achieved.

Installation and maintenance contractors are seeking dedicated training so that they better understand the particular requirements necessary for fire doors over normal doors.

In providing inspection, training and consultancy services that improve standards of specifications, installation and maintenance of fire doors we can help to make buildings safer. That matters now and it will matter again in future.

Contact us today to discuss your requirements and find out how we can help.

Our credentials Of paramount importance to us as a company is that our clients are always satisfied with the service we provide. We always work hard to do our best for our clients and help them to avoid the pitfalls of non-compliance with legal requirements, regulations and standards.

We are able to do that every time for every client because we have many, many years of experience and because we possess the necessary qualifications.

All inspectors will have not only passed the FDIS certificated inspector assessment but also hold additional fire door inspector qualifications. As a company we are certificated to a UKAS accredited third party certification scheme for fire door inspections and with regard to our training services we are assured by NOCN to deliver SiteRight fire door installation training. L FURTHER INFORMATION neil@firedoorscomplete.com www.firedoorscomplete.com

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GS1 Standards

Traceability in healthcare: the difference between good and great Glen Hodgson, head of Healthcare at GS1 UK, is charged with supporting the NHS and healthcare industry to deliver greater efficiency and a more robust approach to patient safety. He explains more here A robust supply chain makes all the difference goes beyond the premise of efficient in the world of supply and demand. It is the procurement and inventory management but difference between next day delivery and has a profound impact on patient safety. next week. Take the context of the healthcare supply chain and that is the crucial difference GS1’s legacy with between having access to vital supplies in a enabling traceability timely and efficient manner, and not.

GS1 standards internationally Traceability of healthcare recognised standards used to products has become more uniquely identify people, significant in recent months, products, and places.

Beyond not least following the For years, their use the Scan publication of The has been well program 4Safety Independent Medicines established in the and Medical Device retail supply chain trusts ac me, several r o Safety (IMMDS) however, their s s t h e are imp country Review, but even firm introduction le standard menting GS1 more so in light of the into the healthcare s to Covid-19 pandemic supply chain was trace pr track and challenging the global first referenced o ducts healthcare sector. This in 2014 in the

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Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) NHS eProcurement Strategy.

Detailed in the strategy, GS1 standards were proposed to ‘enable trusts to control and manage their non-pay spending, by the adoption of master procurement data, automating the exchange of procurement data and benchmarking their procurement expenditure data against other trusts and healthcare providers’, with a requirement for ‘suppliers to place their product data in a GS1 certified datapool’.

This then became more pertinent when translated into clinical settings with the initiation of the DHSC’s Scan4Safety programme of 2016. Its aims were to ‘free up clinicians to focus on patient care and also support clinicians to provide error-free care, every time’ through the application of global standards.

GS1 Standards

The impact of traceability in a clinical setting Beyond the Scan4Safety programme, several trusts across the country are implementing GS1 standards to track and trace products. One of the areas where this perhaps has the greatest value is in surgical or invasive procedures.

Take the instance of product recalls at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for an item used in their catherisation labs. Prior to using GS1 standards, the product recall process would likely have taken days to manually locate stock on the premises and notify any affected patients.

However, with point-of-care scanning of the products in place, theatre staff were able to ‘segregate the affected stock within two hours and place a red flag on the system which would alert were that stock scanned at any point in the future’. Within an eight hour period, all consultants that had performed a procedure using the item had been notified and the 60 patients identified as being affected were all notified for follow up.

Beyond Scan4Safety – GS1 standards in the current climate Today amid the global pandemic, GS1 standards are helping trusts to improve visibility of available stock and enabling trusts to track medical equipment throughout the hospital. The work with University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust and their solution provider Paragon ID provides a great case in point for how this has worked in practice.

Now, more than ever, is a critical time for trusts, manufacturers, suppliers, and solution providers alike to continue driving this traceability work forwards to shape the NHS for years to come Using GS1-compliant RFID tags on their medical equipment and Paragon ID’s RFiD Discovery system, the staff and medical equipment teams at Plymouth have the capacity to trace the locations of their labelled assets. Doing so has allowed them to achieve visibility of available equipment stock across the trust, which more importantly serves as an infection prevention control measure. Any equipment returned to medical equipment from a suspected Covid positive ward, can then be contained and dealt with accordingly before being redeployed to another location. It is this level of traceability that we need to aim to achieve across the NHS. What next for GS1 standards and point-of-care scanning?

Unique identification of products and point-of-care scanning will undoubtedly have a role to play in the future healthcare landscape.

This is perhaps best evidenced by NHS Supply Chain having recently reaffirmed their commitment to the use of GS1 standards for the supply of goods into the NHS. In an August statement released in response to the publication of the Scan4Safety report, NHS Supply Chain announced: “Critical to this is working with our suppliers to ensure that all products are identified with Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) which are encoded into GS1 barcodes.”

With the forthcoming Medicines and Medical Device legislation on the horizon, this will become crucially important for suppliers. As of spring next year, suppliers will be required to begin registering their product details for inclusion in what is proposed to be a national perioperative database of procedures using medical devices. Starting with mesh products before expanding to other devices, this comes to bear as a result of one of the nine recommendations made in The IMMDS Review.

The database will enable the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to have a greater oversight of medical device performance for effective post-market surveillance in the event of any adverse event reports or product recall alerts.

Now, more than ever, is a critical time for trusts, manufacturers, suppliers, and solution providers alike to continue driving this traceability work forwards to shape the NHS for years to come.

It is the best way to ensure greater patient safety through improved visibility and access to accurate data. L

To find out more about GS1 standards in healthcare visit the GS1 UK website below.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.gs1uk.org/healthcare.org

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Reducing cost and improving efficiency A partnership approach

Integrated care systems are the future of healthcare for NHS Trusts. Funding and managing services, utilising data for efficiency planning and reducing waiting times will be challenging. To provide the care that patients expect, within the required timescales, will need a new approach.

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Scan4Safety

Point-of-care scanning just makes sound business sense Following July’s Scan4Safety evidence report, Glen Hodgson discusses some of the paper’s findings as well as why point-of-care scanning will improve patient safety for years to come

Healthcare systems around the world face a common challenge – the ability to provide the best care to their patient populations within the realms of their available resources.

It is true to say that all healthcare systems are different, which also applies to their funding models, but the need to maximise what is available remains the same, irrespective of locality. This is also accurate for England’s NHS operations.

Therefore, in 2016, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) launched the Scan4Safety programme, designed to use tested processes to improve safety and efficiency on the frontline of the NHS. As part of the programme, six NHS trusts were given a share of £12 million to implement GS1 and PEPPOL standards.

“The general principle of Scan4Safety is that the GS1 and PEPPOL standards athology should be adopted Point of Care across the ‘length and breadth’ of the trust as defined in individual requirements and milestones.”

GS1 standards were integrated into each of the trusts and centred around three core enablers – the unique identification of people, products and places across each trust site using GS1 standards-based ID Keys: Global Service Relation Numbers (GSRNs) for people; Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) for products; and Global Location Numbers (GLNs) for places.

After two years, the Scan4Safety programme successfully reached completion and, in July 2020, the evidence gathered throughout its duration was published into a finalised report entitled A scan of the benefits: the Scan4Safety evidence report.

The achievements exhibited by the six demonstrator sites involved in the programme provide a clear business case for the widespread adoption of point-ofcare scanning in healthcare. Outside of the programme, several additional NHS trusts have since embarked on their own adoption journeys. Together, their findings are helping to shape a Scan4Safety blueprint for other trusts to follow.

For each of the demonstrator sites, the tangible benefits were extensive. Nick Thomas, deputy chief executive and director of planning and site services at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, Surgery explains: “We started on a journey that began with inventory management that absolutely absorbed patient safety, but then you’re into operational efficiencies and productivity. You get it all.”

Patient safety Introducing point-of-care scanning within clinical settings enables traceability at various touchpoints throughout the patient care journey and healthcare supply chain. Leeds Teaching Hospitals

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NHS Trust provides a prime example of how GS1 standards helped to bridge the gap between supply-chain integrity, and product and patient safety.

Prior to Scan4Safety, the average time taken to recall a product took 8.33 days.

The process was heavily reliant on crossreferring records manually, and physically tracking down stock across the hospital.

Now, products are scanned prior to use and are recorded directly into the patient record at the point of care. Additionally, with all product inventory tracked and monitored throughout the trust, real-time inventory management is enabled to show where any consignment stock is held.

With this process in place, Leeds have been able to reduce the time taken to recall products to less than 35 minutes – that’s more than 380 times faster than previous processes.

Theatres At Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, the unique identification of every item used for every procedure on a patient allows theatre staff to develop a detailed picture of exactly what equipment is needed for which operation on which individual.

This level of visibility enabled them to do “surgical kitting” – advanced forecasting of equipment needed in advance of a procedure. E

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Advertisement Feature

Leading Digital Change with WellSky EPMA Of all of the digitisation projects currently underway at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals (STHK) NHS Trust, electronic prescribing and medicines administration (EPMA) represents the biggest step forward for patient safety, ensuring the right drugs get to the right patient at the right time Reducing prescription errors A recent study by the universities of York, Manchester and Sheffield reported that in NHS England alone some 237 million medication errors occur every year, which, as former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt estimated, accounts for between four and five deaths a day. Whilst the NHS is committed to reducing these errors by 50%, St Helens & Knowsley with the WellSky EPMA system have challenged themselves to achieve an even higher rate.

In April 2017, Whiston, an in-patient hospital, went live with WellSky’s web-based EPMA. In under a year the Trust saw positive results by digitising medicines management.

The system links with the WellSky Pharmacy stock control module, and together they create an end-to-end integrated medicines management platform that can interface with their System C Patient Administration System for order communications, admissions/discharge and other functionality. This digital environment enables quick and easy data sharing across wards and other Trust sites, providing nurses and doctors with secure access to patient records even while on the road.

Why Wellsky?

In addition to already having its pharmacy stock control system, the Trust wanted an electronic prescribing solution with broad functionality, designed by domain specialists and already with a proven user base. At the time of selection, the Trust didn’t have an EPR so were free to choose the EPMA market leader.

of how users navigate screens – greatly simplified the training process.

In fact, the speed with which the Trust overcame cultural and technology barriers was especially impressive considering the complexity of electronic prescribing. There is a vast array of medicines, protocols and dose bandings to be custom configured into the drug database, along with exception alerts for the drug allergies and the special sensitivities of individual patients. Given that a single error can be life threatening, this explains why medicines management has one of the lowest tolerances to error: It simply must be safe.

Eliminating transcription mistakes “On electronic systems you reduce the amount of hand-written transcription of medications; which significantly reduces the number of prescribing errors.” – Dr Andrew Hill, Clinical Lead for Stroke Services Like all hospitals, the Trust used to have problems with the wrong medicines being delivered to the wards because of the order’s illegible handwriting. And while these were always spotted in time, it posed unnecessary risks. WellSky EPMA eliminates this risk.

Other safety features include decision support tools like best practice medicines and dosage defaults. By prescribing electronically, orders no longer go astray and drug administering schedules can be monitored and flagged up if a round is missed. And in cases when care is time critical, a change in prescription or dosage

One of the main priorities was a modern web-based system that was intuitive to use for mobile clinicians and would be easy to deploy, upgrade and interface with other applications as our digitisation programme evolves. With EPMA’s web version updates are done direct from the IT centre with users accessing the system via URLs. Not only does this save a great deal of time, it ensures everyone is always using the same version.

The digital transformation “The new system is much more efficient and quicker than other versions that I’ve used previously” - Dr Andrew Hill, Clinical Lead for Stroke Services When WellSky EPMA was introduced to clinicians, the web interface – which was designed following in depth study

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can be reviewed and amended remotely in real time. The Trust has noted a marked reduction in medicines incident logged by the Datix incident reporting system.

Saving Clinician time With WellSky EPMA clinicians no longer wade through old kardexes to look up a patient’s medication history. Instead, doctors can see a patient’s complete real time prescription sheet on a single consolidated screen; determine when a particular drug was last administered and find out why it was stopped. Because all medicines data is captured within the database, on readmission to the hospital a patient’s treatment history can be called up instantly.

The Pharmacy/treatment dispense information interface is allows EPMA data to be downloaded to create discharge letters for the patient’s GP. Digitising the Trust’s medicines management environment has also had a positive impact on operational and financial efficiencies. The wealth of data captured by the WellSky EPMA system is not only clinically rich but enables the generation of a wide range of reports and analysis of both clinical and operational outcomes in a way previously not possible.

With future EPMA rollouts planned for St. Helens Hospital, Outpatients and possible outreach into community hospitals, the project is nothing short of transformative. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.wellsky.co.uk

Pharmacy In the months from 1 April 2019 to February 2020, five per cent of Never Events were caused by a medication error – a mistake either caused by supply or during administration.

In instances such as these, the widespread adoption of closed-loop medicines supply and closed-loop medicines administration would have served as a preventative measure. Before supplying or administering a medication to a patient, their wristband is scanned to ensure an accurate, positive patient ID and the medicine is then scanned to verify the product details.

At Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, the implementation of scanning within their pharmacy department by chief pharmacist, Iain Davidson, allowed the trust to eliminate all errors caused by wrong patient, wrong drug, wrong dose and wrong form, enabling clinicians to reduce prevented-error rates by 76 per cent.

Inventory management At North Tees and Hartlepool Hospital Trust, their inventory-management benefits were evident. Scan4Safety enabled them to better manage their stock, which resulted in £154,939 of savings in orthopaedic theatres by July 2017. By the end of the two-year project, the trust as a whole had realised £1.1 million of savings.

At Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the overhaul of their inventory management processes resulted in a £2 million reduction on the balance sheet, and across all six demonstrator sites, recurrent inventory savings amounted to nearly £5 million, and non-recurrent reductions totalled £9 million.

Workforce optimisation One of the most powerful benefits reported in the evidence comes from the impact on workforce. Throughout the duration of the programme, the six demonstrator sites were able to release an incredible 140,000 hours of clinical staff’s time – 140,000 hours that can today be refocused back into direct patient care.

University Hospitals Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust found

Scan4Safety

 The trust’s Director of nursing and midwifery during the Scan4Safety demonstrator project, Lorna Wilkinson, articulated: “From the wealth of thousands of procedures, we know exactly what is needed for a total hip replacement or a knee replacement, even down to knowing what kit is needed for Mr Jacob’s ankle reconstruction. Our theatre staff come in in the morning and trolleys are there already set up for the day with all the kit and consumables that that operating list needs.”

1For University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, adopting GS1 standards made a real difference, as deputy chief executive and director of planning and site services, Nick Thomas emphasised: “We could demonstrate that in every theatre we went into [with point-of-care barcode scanning] we were making substantial savings.”

There is a collective responsibility for all stakeholders – NHS trusts, manufacturers and suppliers, regulators and standards organisations alike – to drive the adoption of standards in healthcare this when they transitioned to electronic observations (e-obs), from traditionally manual-based processes.

Before using the e-obs machine (Connex Spot Monitor), a nurse scans the patient’s wristband and their own staff ID. This ensures the right observations are recorded in the right patient’s record with the correct clinician’s details tracked against the encounter.

With this system in place, the average time taken to complete observations for each patient was reduced by 35 per cent – from five minutes 11 seconds to three minutes 22 seconds. That equates to approximately 20 nurses’ worth of time saved every day for the trust, and to 3,800 nurses’ worth of time saved across the NHS in England.

A place for Scan4Safety in the future healthcare landscape The publication of the Cumberlege Review in July 2020 has prompted the need for change across the sector. The review, which centres on patient safety, has given way to a renewed traction for standards-based, open, interoperable electronic patientrecord (EPR) systems, in alignment with one of Baroness Julia Cumberlege’s nine recommendations: the implementation of a national patient-identifiable database.

In response, the DHSC have issued an amendment to the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill, which prompted discussion around the evolution of a central database for medicines and medical devices. The premise of this database, will rely on the unique identification of medicines and medical devices so they can be traced for post-market surveillance, and of patients to enable identification of whom the product was used on.

Ultimately, the need for unique identification has not gone unnoticed,

and this was echoed in the contributions from Lord Philip Hunt3 and Lord Ribeiro4 in the second reading of the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill in the House of Lords earlier this month.

To quote Lord Ribeiro: “The utilisation of systems for tracking devices, such as the Scan4Safety programme, which involves patients wearing barcoded wristbands that can be scanned and tracked against patients’ records, is to be recommended.”

Beyond the Scan4Safety programme The impact potential of point-of-care scanning across the NHS is evident, and its value is best emphasised by Julian Hartley, chief executive at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. He said: “Scan4Safety is a pioneering initiative to bring 21st century data standards to our everyday work in the NHS. I’m proud that at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, we were one of the original demonstrator sites, and it has shown improvements in how we track patients and equipment around our seven hospitals, and, crucially, frees up staff time so they can spend more time focusing on patient care. Initiatives such as Scan4Safety are crucial for becoming an efficient, modern teaching hospital.”

There is a collective responsibility for all stakeholders – NHS trusts, manufacturers and suppliers, regulators and standards organisations alike – to drive the adoption of standards in healthcare.

They should be used, as standard, by all organisations, as unique identification will inevitably have a fundamental role to play in delivering traceability within clinical settings to improve patient safety for years to come. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.gs1uk.org/healthcare

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Solutions for Business Continuity in an Age of Pandemic Andrew Smith reflects upon some challenges presented to different customer in both the private and commercial sectors, who both needed to ensure continuity of workflow processes, explaining how OPEX were able to support them in challenging circumstances over UK lockdown to achieve their required outcomes

Society in the UK has been deeply impacted and affected by Covid-19 during recent months. As Autumn approaches, the news continues to focus on Covid matters like never before. At the time of writing, the UK looks to be on the cusp of returning to heightened measures and further impact upon our daily lives.

This article doesn’t seek to dwell upon the negative aspects within society associated with Covid, but rather offer insight around how organisations have rethought their working practices, diversified, and ensured their continued operation whilst ensuring the continued safety of their workforces with OPEX’s support.

Medical Records In 2020, the NHS has faced its biggest challenge in a generation. Whilst it’s impossible for society to perform many of the lifesaving tasks undertaken by front-line NHS staff, the completions of many ‘behind-the-scenes’ administrative functions and non-patient facing tasks remain undiminished. The country’s need to ‘Go Digital’ is greater now than ever before, with instantaneous access to patient information becoming crucial.

This scenario was exemplified by one NHS trust, who were amidst the process of installing multiple OPEX Falcon machines to enable their ‘digital’ drive for clinicians and medical staff to access invaluable patient files and information, traditionally hand-delivered to clinics. The project continued relatively unabated over Spring 2020 seeing successful deployment of the newly installed machines, plus recruitment and training of a new workforce to deliver this new digital workflow. The

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trust recognised the project was a priority, and aside from the countrywide pause to prioritise growing numbers of patients as pandemic numbers accelerated, the Trust’s background desire to change working practices for the good - remained intact.

Throughout the pandemic, OPEX’s team across UK and Ireland worked shoulderto-shoulder with our customers, ensuring continuity of their operations. Ultimately this ‘behind the scenes’ service supports and enables NHS Medical Records teams to digitise and share patient information with NHS colleagues wherever they might be, to help save lives.

Over 30 NHS trusts now rely upon the expertise of OPEX for handling the digitisation of their Medical Records, having adopted this model as their preferred solution. OPEX’s Falcon workstation enables the quick, accurate and cost-effective capture and transformation of poor-quality medical records into structured digital content, ready for onward ingestion into EPR systems.

Even notoriously challenging ‘Lloyd George’ GP’s notes are handled with distinction.

By creating a solution significantly different to other manufacturers, OPEX has identified and solved key issues surrounding this monumental task faced by an already overstretched system to deliver labour-saving benefits. OPEX leads the field in digital conversion of ‘legacy’ archives and ‘dayforward’ hard copy patient medical record files, seeing OPEX Falcon’s unique combined prep-and-scan workstation as the scanner of choice for capturing complex patient files.

Digital Mailroom During the pandemic, the delivery of ‘Digital Mail’ to employees enterprisewide has become an absolute requirement for business, whilst addressing risk management and mitigation concerns.

An international outsourcing company recently set up a new office serving their UK clients from offices near London, and their timely investment in OPEX’s FalconV RED machine enabled their service provision to continue relatively unhindered; ensuring they could remain at the forefront of service delivery for ‘digital mail’. The range of services provided included diverting incoming business mail intended for employees who were all working from home remotely – yet still needs access to the mail.

Other workflows for the client included diverting and receiving incoming mail

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS | www.healthbusinessuk.net

containing financial information, invoices and payments (AP) local authority workflow documents, etc – again all of which needed to be handled on behalf of their clients to ensure timely continuity for business workflows. The FalconV RED machine proved invaluable in handling incoming mixedsize unstructured mail envelopes, opening the mail automatically, and enabling an operative to categorise, scan and capture the images with inbuilt state of the art software solutions, ensuring items such as original and fragile documents were handled securely to complete the process. All being achieved against stringent SLA’s, in a timely and secure manner for their clients.

For over four decades, OPEX has been a global leader in Document Imaging and Mailroom Automation solutions. OPEX serves a variety of industries including financial services, insurance, healthcare, local and central government, educational, legal, utilities, service bureaus and BPO’s.

OPEX® one-touch scanning technology can be integrated with your software and customised to your job requirements, giving you greater flexibility and control. This, coupled with our expertise in the marketplace and strategic account management, allows OPEX to become a valuable partner and provide the right solution to any organisations scanning requirements.L FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: +44 1204 388838 info@opex.com digitiseyourdocuments.co.uk

Data management

Secure data destruction in the health care sector GDPR has caused much anxiety within the health care sector. Steve Mellings explains why the most critical part of compliance is the approach to data protection itself With the hyperbole surrounding the General outsource Data Protection Office (DPO) for Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) beginning over 100 health care organisations and my to dissipate, the stark reality of the need experience here tells me that the health care to comply with a law which is not going sector has some way to go where compliance to go away is only now really beginning to GDPR and the UK Data Protection Act is to dawn on many organisations. For those concerned. Despite being mandated by law operating in the health care sector, where to have a DPO as a result of the large-scale data is key to providing patient care, many processing of Special Category data, we’re still of the requirements under GDPR are viewed seeing many large and smaller independent as cumbersome and an operational burden, heath care practitioners adopting an internal leaving many to question the need to tick box approach to compliance, which is change the way in which patient care has leaving many obvious GAPs waiting to be traditionally been delivered. This stance is identified by both patients and regulators. further supported by the complex way which With many overwhelmed, it is sensible data is shared between multiple entities, to try to break the compliance project into each necessary to provide patient care. specific tasks. One area where the However, GDPR and the UK Data health sector has traditionally Protection Act are here to stay struggled is that of secure and 18 months since the data destruction. Two Despite law was implemented we of the largest five some o b are beginning to see fines, in excess of v i o us exampl data subjects make £500,000 (pree s of the financia use of their rights and GDPR), were levied this busl risk posed b the regulator take on the heath care y i n e an interest in those sector were as a s s p we’re s companies who are result of improper till seeinrocess, practice g poor not on their journey destruction of where towards compliance. data. Despite these d e s t ruction data One organisation I’m involved with, Clinical concern is ed DPO, operates as an

obvious examples of the financial risk posed by this business process, we’re still seeing poor practice where data destruction is concerned.

Secure data destruction It’s perhaps pertinent to start by outlining what we mean by secure data destruction.

There are various times within the data lifecycle where erasure is required and that is usually managed on a file basis using system tools which remove the file index keys rendering the data unaddressable, but still in existence. Generally over time the data is overwritten by new saved data and as such becomes unrecoverable. The risk here from this activity is low but that changes significantly when the whole device is released from control, generally at end of life. Healthcare organisations seek suppliers to provide brokerage, recycling or ITAD services and it is here where the real problems begin. Since starting ADISA − a certification scheme for companies who recovery IT assets and perform data sanitisation services − we’ve carried out over 500 audits of this business process and as a result of this experience we see common E

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OVER 200 MILLION FACE MASKS SOLD ACROSS THE GLOBE T&K are a leading International Manufacturer and Distributor of Disposable, Medical and Surgical Face Masks.

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Compliance with GDPR is not a one-time process. It is about the business building processes into its day to day operation which have data protection at the core and support staff in making the right decisions to maintain a compliant position Using a contract A recurring and frustrating issue for ADISA members is the inability to put a contract in place between themselves and their customers. Under the Data Protection Act 1998 it was illegal for a controller to use a processor without a contract and this has been further emphasised under GDPR by making it illegal for either party to conduct business without a contract being in place.

That contract is used to provide compliance to a range of GDPR requirements which are listed in Article 28 and forms a key component in the controller/processor relationship.

It would seem obvious that a transaction with such a large amount of data would be governed by strict written authorisation, but sadly that is often not the case. Even where written authorisation is in place, it is often not fit for purpose and the addition of standards which are not relevant, merely shows the authors have no proper grasp on the process.

The frustration for ADISA members is that the Standard they are certified to, has made it mandatory since January 2016 to have contracts in place, but all too often an audit we have seen email evidence from the customer saying: ‘I’m not going to sign your contract and if you

Data management

 mistakes organisations make when disposing of assets which are relatively easy to fix.

The first common mistake is to underestimate the need for secure data destruction, which means the whole process is treated dismissively. You would hope that the previously mentioned financial penalties would ensure renewed focus is given but it appears, particularly in health care, that retired assets with data on and also hard copy files, get identified as waste and treated as such. In addition to the fines for failing to dispose of old PCs we have seen pre-GDPR fines for the improper disposal of filing cabinets containing patient records. All of the issues which causes these fines were easy to fix if the proper focus had been applied to this business function.

Operationally, a common weakness is a complete lack of control over the process itself. Whilst the act of data sanitisation is often mentioned in contracts, the control over inventory is not. Loss of the physical asset is a far greater risk than an overwriting toolset not being used properly. It would make sense that if you are releasing your assets into a supply chain that you understand what assets you have released, which in turn will enable you to reconcile what was processed. This is an imperative under GDPR as Article 24 make it very clear that it is the responsibility of the controller (the health care organisation releasing the assets) to take ‘Appropriate Technical and Organisation Measures’.

Not only is it the opinion of the author that it would be appropriate to know what you have released but, and of course more importantly, it is also the opinion of the UK Information Commissioner’s Office. Within their penalty notices for the two health authorities fined for improper disposal, both listed a lack of inventory as a key contributory factor to permitting a breach to happen.

don’t collect I’ll get someone else to’. This for many transactions is the commercial reality but is fundamentally illegal and as one member says: ‘Our certification saves our customers from themselves, if only they would let us lead them’.

Finally, a common mistake is data controllers not knowing what to look for in their suppliers.

A smart website with impressive claims and credibility built by statements about compliance or approvals is commonplace in an industry which is largely unregulated.

Article 28 (1) states that you should only use a processor which provides sufficient guarantees to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures. Unless during your due diligence you dig beneath the claims and assess them on their own merits by physically inspecting their facility and their processes then there is no way you can be compliant with this. Unless, of course, you use a vendor who voluntarily gets screening by an independent certification body such as ADISA. Concluding comments So is this another article lambasting bad proactive? And if it is why should you care?

The truth is that GDPR has caused much anxiety within the health care sector, as it has in most sectors, compounded by companies wishing to sell silver bullet solutions to compliance. The reality is that the most critical part of compliance is the approach to data protection itself. There are many, many aspects which are simple to implement and easy to maintain if the data controller is motivated to approach this properly. Compliance with GDPR is not a one-time process and it isn’t a bolt on solution, it is about the business building processes into its day to day operation which have data protection at the core and support staff in making the right decisions to maintain a compliant position.

Secure data sanitisation is one area where you can apply some basic and sensible principles to manage your risk and become compliant. If you have any doubts about what you are doing speak to an ADISA members directly www.adisa.global as they have been well versed in helping organisations manage this one part of the overall GDPR compliance project. L

Steve Mellings is the founder of ADISA and a consultant at Clinical DPO. FURTHER INFORMATION https://adisa.global/

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Healthcare at risk: the cyber security timebomb Nicky Whiting, head of Compliance for Bulletproof, discusses the urgency of improving healthcare cyber security

Why do hackers attack healthcare?

The first thing to understand is that most cyber attacks are not targeted. Opportunistic cyber criminals aren’t aiming at healthcare or any other sector, rather they’re looking for an easy target. And if that happens to be an NHS computer, so be it. The perilous state of many healthcare organisations’ IT setup makes them an easy target for cyber attack. We’ve already seen opportunistic hacking create large-scale disruption within the NHS in the form of 2017’s WannaCry ransomware attack. Private healthcare is more often directly targeted, since its data contains not only sensitive health data, but also payment and insurance data.

Private institutions are also more likely to pay a hacker’s ransom to protect their reputation.

Technology empowers and endangers The increasing digitalisation and technological innovation in the healthcare sector has delivered great results: electronic patient records, video appointments, apps and medical devices have all increased the quality and

quantity of healthcare provision. But these same advancements in technology have created new opportunities for hackers. Greater electronic and internet-based access to sensitive data creates bigger risks through increased security vulnerabilities. Patching is a particular problem, being a major cause of critical security issues in corporate and healthcare organisations alike. The 2021 Bulletproof Cyber Security Report reveals that out-of-date and unpatched components were responsible for over a third of all critical vulnerabilities.

This paints a concerning prognosis for healthcare security unless action is taken.

The human element Security is often thought of as a technical matter, but people play an enormous part in cyber defence and data protection. This is especially true in healthcare sectors where both the technological oversight and the levels of staff awareness are typically much less than in corporate environments. This lack of staff engagement and awareness negatively impacts security defences and data protection as people don’t understand their individual responsibilities through the course of their daily working lives. The mass shift to remote working during 2020 has exacerbated matters by further reducing security oversight and introducing new uses and locations of data that may not have been previously considered.

Meeting the risk management challenges As the current state of cyber security suggests, combatting these twin problems of people and technology is a challenge. But the problems

The 2021 Bulletproof Cyber Security Report reveals that out-of-date and unpatched components were responsible for over a third of all critical vulnerabilities. This paints a concerning prognosis for healthcare security unless action is taken.

Written by Nicky Whiting, Head of Compliance

Healthcare is repeatedly cited as the number one targeted sector for cyber criminals. And it’s no secret that both private and NHS healthcare providers need to step up their cyber security in order to meet today’s standards of data protection. But that’s often easier said than done, and the resulting lack of security controls can lead to disrupted services, data breaches, and even potentially threaten lives.

This is happening in hospitals up and down the country, meaning the time to act and secure cyber defences has never been more vital.

are not insurmountable. Like all journeys, the path to good security starts at the beginning, and that means getting the basics right. Cyber Essentials is a compliance framework based on standard best practices and this makes it an excellent first step for private and NHS providers alike. Cyber Essentials can form the basis of your cyber security strategy and in the process stop a lot of opportunistic attacks.

Resourcing is repeatedly cited as a barrier to tackling compliance (in particular the GDPR) and cyber security, so partnering with a trusted provider with experience in the healthcare sector is vital. Lean on your security partner’s experience to complement your existing internal knowledge and capabilities. There are also cost-effective service shortcuts, such as outsourcing the Data Protection Officer role.

Training is often overlooked as a cyber defence, but it has the power to be one of the most robust defences against hackers and non-compliance. In a world where technical security controls can be undone by an overworked healthcare practitioner clicking on a malicious link in an email, investing in staff training is paramount. Bulletproof recently conducted security training for St Andrews Healthcare. In place of a traditional presentation, we workshopped an innovative ‘capture the flag’ virtual tournament, where St Andrews Healthcare staff took turns in playing the parts of attacker and defender.

This resulted in a deeper understanding of the aims, motives and techniques used by hackers and security professionals alike. Staff are now better equipped to identify and counter the cyber threats they face in their everyday jobs.

Now’s the time to act With administrative healthcare staff working remotely and hackers leveraging the unprecedented global situation, data protection and cyber security in healthcare is more perilous than ever. There are services and solutions from trusted providers that can help, including covidsafe delivery. Investing in cyber security defences is the only way to avoid the extensive financial and regulatory repercussions of a data breach.

Keep your sensitive data secure To find out how Bulletproof can help you overcome your healthcare security challenges, contact our experienced consultants today. L FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 01438 500 500 contact@bulletproof.co.uk www.bulletproof.co.uk/cyber-report

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Cyber security

Helping suppliers improve cyber security in the midst of the pandemic The health service was not on the most secure footing when it came to cyber security going into 2020, before the pandemic struck. Will new funding and a coronavirus vaccine minimise the threat?

Digital Infrastructure Minister Matt Warman health sector in relation to the pandemic, announced in September that hundreds of with cyber crime groups attempting to the country’s healthcare firms are set to steal sensitive intelligence, intellectual benefit from government funding to boost property and personal information their cyber security. Speaking at London from pharmaceutical companies and Tech Week, Warman said that small and medical research organisations. medium-sized businesses, such as medical In July, UK security officials revealed suppliers and primary care providers, are that Russian cyber actors were targeting being invited to apply for a slice of the organisations involved in coronavirus £500,000 funding for the initiative which vaccine development, with GCHQ detailing will see all consultancy and activity of the threat group known certification costs covered as APT29, which has exploited by the government. organisations globally. The In July, The announcement assessment of APT29 was security UK follows the supported by partners at the officials National Cyber Canadian Communication reveale d that R Security Centre Establishment ussian Security cyber a identifying a (CSE), the US Department c t ors targetin heightened cyber for Homeland Security g organ were threat to the UK (DHS) Cybersecurity invo isa

lved tion vaccine in coronaviru s s develop ment

Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Security Agency (NSA).

APT29’s campaign of malicious activity is ongoing, predominantly against government, diplomatic, think-tank, healthcare and energy targets to steal valuable intellectual property. This was not the first warning that APT groups have been targeting organisations involved in both national and international coronavirus responses. In fact, throughout 2020, APT29 has targeted various organisations involved in coronavirus vaccine development in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom, highly likely with the intention of stealing information and intellectual property relating to the development and testing of vaccines.

Now, thanks to the government cyber boost, participants on the programme E

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Cyber security

Given the complexity of healthcare networks and the prevalence of these devices, it is often a difficult task for IT security teams to keep track of all devices connected to the network  can receive guidance and support to get accreditation from the government’s Cyber Essentials certification, including training to make sure all phones, tablets, laptops or computers are kept up-to-date, proper firewall usage to secure devices’ internet connections, and user access controls to manage employee access to services.

The Digital Minister said at London Tech Week: “We know there is a heightened cyber threat for healthcare businesses at the moment so we are releasing new funding to help those playing a vital role in the pandemic response to remain resilient. I also urge all organisations to sign up to the government’s Cyber Essentials programme which contains a number of simple steps firms can take to get the fundamentals of good cyber security in place.”

Tracing apps Back in May, nearly half of the UK public surveyed about the NHSX Covid19 tracing app did not trust the UK government to keep their information safe from hackers. According to a study carried out by Censuswide on behalf of Anomali, which examined consumer attitudes to the proposed tracing app, 43 per cent of respondents were concerned that the app would give cyber criminals the opportunity to send smishing messages or phishing emails.

Yet, only half felt they were savvy enough to differentiate between a legitimate

email or text message and a phishing/ smishing message. A further third of respondents are concerned that the app might allow the government to track their whereabouts, whilst 36 per cent are concerned that the app might allow the government to collect data on them.

The warning was heralded by Public Health England, who told potential contacts to check suspicious messages against the government website after a flurry of reports of Britons being falsely informed they may have coronavirus.

This led to several public health directors urging for all forms of communication from contact tracers to involve twostep verification to eradicate the risk of scammers gaining confidential information.

Cyber vulnerabilities Part of the problem is that the health service was not on the most secure footing when it came to cyber security going into 2020, before the pandemic struck.

Research in January revealed that 67 per cent of healthcare organisations had experienced a cyber security incident in the past year. Highlighting the serious threat that data breaches and malicious attacks pose to the UK’s health-related data, the Clearswift analysis also found that 48 per cent of incidents within the health sector occurred as a result of introduction of viruses or malware from third-party devices – including IoT devices and USB sticks.

Given the complexity of healthcare networks and the prevalence of these devices, it is often a difficult task for IT security teams to keep track of all devices connected to the network. However, as a result of this very point, healthcare organisations need to see endpoint security as one of the biggest threats to their organisation. Every device connected to the network creates another potential entry point or point of origin for security threats. No matter how well-secured email and web channels are against the threat of malware, if there is an open back door (in the form of a third-party device), the entire organisation remains at risk.

The survey found that further causes of cyber security incidents within the healthcare sector included: employees sharing information with unauthorised recipients (39 per cent), whether that be as a result of human error rather than malicious intent; users not following protocol/data protection policies, including general policies such as GDPR and more industry specific ones such as the Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations (37 per cent); malicious links in emails and on social media (28 per cent); and downloading files and images (also 28 per cent). Much like links, files and images can be weaponised by cyber criminals and used to gain access to sensitive information on the network or to release malware.

The number of security incidents are in stark contrast with further findings from the survey which revealed that 24 per cent of respondents had an adequate level of budget allocated to cyber security. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.gov.uk/government/news/ funding-boost-to-help-healthcaresuppliers-improve-cyber-security

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Cyber security

Managing vulnerabilities in a digitised world Organisations can no longer afford to ignore cyber security and must build both a strategy and a workforce that can not only protect against attacks, writes Steve Durbin Today’s digital and physical worlds are on an irreversible collision course. Over the next few years, organisations will be plunged into crisis as ruthless attackers exploit weaknesses in immature technologies and take advantage of an unprepared workforce. At the same time, natural forces will ravage infrastructure.

As new technologies emerge, organisations will need to adapt to the changing norms and values of society. Information security teams will need to consider the suitability of implementing evolving or poorly secured technology within the organisation. Failure to protect against pervasive attacks will leave operations exposed to significant negative financial impacts and damage to brand reputation.

In the coming years, Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure will become unmanageable and impossible to secure effectively, with attackers discovering a growing number of abandoned, network-connected devices and subsequently compromising them.

Organisations will find themselves unable to patch, update and operate a range of IoT devices that will be phased out of production by manufacturers who have gone out of business or have discontinued support.

devices. They will exploit homogeneous These devices will be forgotten by vulnerabilities and use forgotten IoT devices organisations and abandoned by their as an entry point into many organisations, manufacturers. They will be left vulnerable causing financial and operational damage. and remain embedded in places such as underground pipes, air conditioning ducts What is the justification and factory assembly lines, yet will continue for this threat? to connect to networks. Frequent overhauling Organisations’ desire for data and analytics, of IoT estates will result in a combination fuelled by high speed connectivity, will drive of new IoT ecosystems coexisting with old the IoT to grow at a frightening speed. With and forgotten ones. Not only will these the growing development of 5G networks, abandoned devices create an ingress point devices will spread further into offices, homes for attackers within a corporate network, and factories. Studies have found that 90 they may also pose real hazards to related per cent of senior executives in technology, machinery and critical infrastructure. media, and telecommunications The Internet of Forgotten Things industries said that IoT devices (IoFT), as we call it, will leave are critical to some or all a dangerous legacy of Organis lines of their business. connected devices that are Ericsson estimates unpatched, unprotected desire foations’ r that more than 22 and vulnerable to a d a ta and ana billion IoT devices range of attacks, which ly t ics, fuelled b will require a critical will come back to bite connect y high speed end-to-end security organisations. Nation ivity, will framework over the states, organised d the IoT t coming years, but criminal groups and o grow rive at currently devices lack hackers will take a frighte ning the required security. E advantage of these

speed

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Cyber Security

 With incredibly short production times, heightened consumer demand for new products and high turnover rates of IoT devices, the ability of manufacturers to continue supporting a range of IoT devices will reduce. A report by CSS Cyber Defence stated that there is an alarming number of unsecured or obsolete consumer and industrial IoT devices no longer supported by their manufacturers, however, are still being used. This number is expected to grow as device manufacturers phase out support for devices or go out of business. When IoT manufacturers or retailers go out of business, valuable data will be lost – including confidential or personal information.

Gartner estimates that a quarter of cyber attacks will involve IoT devices in 2020 and beyond. With vulnerabilities being shared among devices and a lack of devices being updated and patched, it is plausible that an epidemic similar to the Mirai virus – where attackers turned exploitable IoT devices into botnets – may soon impact devices that are currently embedded within organisations but have lost manufacturer support. As IoT estates grow and organisations become more dependent upon their efficacy to operate, the number of opportunities attackers will have to exploit organisations will amplify.

The widespread proliferation of the IoT across a growing number of industry and consumer markets means that, if inappropriately managed, it will fast become a major security concern and risk to organisations Many Western governments and regulators are beginning to introduce security guidelines for IoT manufacturers. However, the lack of uniformity between these international guidelines will continue to be a problem for organisations. In addition, chip manufacturers across China and Southeast Asia, with vastly different or non-existent IoT regulations, continue to be critical component manufacturers for IoT devices made and used across the US and Europe.

The widespread proliferation of the IoT across a growing number of industry and consumer markets means that, if inappropriately managed, it will fast become a major security concern and risk to organisations. IoT hardware researchers are currently struggling to protect IoT devices, as they are built into a range of

proprietary operating systems with differing communication protocols. This makes it incredibly difficult to develop monitoring and defensive countermeasures that run across an entire estate of devices. The IoFT will intensify this already alarming risk.

With the number of devices growing both in the workplace and homes, combined with an unmanageable supply chain, the threat of forgotten, unpatched and unsupported devices coming back to bite organisations cannot be ignored any longer.

How should your business prepare?

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BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS | www.healthbusinessuk.net

Cyber security

Organisations can no longer afford to ignore cyber security and must build both a strategy and a workforce that can not only protect against attacks, but also thrive in today’s digital era  In the short term, organisations should conduct a discovery exercise to create an IoT asset inventory and run an active decommissioning or reactivation program for discovered IoT devices. In the long term, create micro-segmentation architecture for IoT devices.

Additionally, incorporate IoT into the IT sourcing strategy, ensuring that rigorous procurement procedures are included. Finally, insure that IoT devices do not create operational dependencies.

Security starts at the top As man-made, natural, accidental and malicious attacks intensify, organisations of all sizes will need to secure their physical and digital properties or face destruction.

Technical infrastructure must be hardened and protected against new and traditional attacks, or strategic decisions must be made to transfer risk away from the organisation.

The requirement to maintain, improve and harden infrastructure to withstand the

threats posed by people, technology and the elements has become an operational necessity. Abandoned, unsupported and forgotten assets will increasingly pose a hidden risk to organisations. While new architectural approaches may seem tempting, failure to maintain oversight of these new network ecosystems will prove disastrous.

In the face of rising, global security threats, organisations must make systematic and wideranging commitments to ensure that practical plans are in place to acclimate to major changes soon. Employees at all levels of the organisation will need to be involved, from board members to managers in non-technical roles. Enterprises with the appropriate expertise, leadership, policy and strategy in place will be agile enough to respond to the inevitable security lapses.

Organisations can no longer afford to ignore cyber security and must build both a strategy and a workforce that can not only protect against attacks, but also thrive in today’s

digital era. This is not something that will be a quick fix; when it comes to investing in security, the return has historically been hard to quantify and as workforces become more diverse, new and old habits create a multitude of challenges. But with the right approach, achieving a successful strategy is possible – and will give businesses a competitive advantage.

Above all, organisations rely on trust – and in the digital world, innovative technologies can be misused to erode that trust, and digitally naïve employees can be exploited, endangering the relationships between organisations and their key stakeholders. To remain steadfast, organisations will need to improve operational transparency, update business continuity plans and overhaul or evolve technical security controls to consider the range of disruptive technological and human threats. Careful protection of the brand will remain high on the corporate agenda, with information security playing a key role in ensuring that the reputations of organisations are maintained. L

Written by Steve Durbin, managing director of the Information Security Forum.

Steve wrote this article in September for Counter Terror Business magazine.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.ergonomics.org.uk

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Advertisement Feature This is an exciting time to be involved in the healthcare sector. It’s an industry undergoing major structural change as healthcare organizations (HCOs) embrace digital technologies to meet rising patient expectations and the growing demands of an ageing population.

The number of centenarians living in the UK increased by 65% in the decade to 2015 and there were over 500,000 people alive that year over 90, for example.

At Advantech we’re helping to shape this future with our partners by building out end-to-end solutions tailor-made for HCOs.

The journey so far We’ve already come a long way. Thanks to an innovative co-creation approach we’ve nurtured an ever-growing ecosystem of expert providers to produce holistic solutions customized for the healthcare sector. You can already see this adding value in multiple use cases:

The focus throughout has been on delivering comprehensive, medical-certified solutions to improve the patient experience, automate repetitive tasks to reduce human error and free up staff to focus on care-giving, and make the whole patient journey more seamless. This means happier staff, happier and healthier patients and improved margins.

High-Performance Intel® Processor for Mobile POC Advantech’s POC-624 features an 8th gen Intel® i5/ i7-8665UE processor and integrated NVME SSD, which processes data seven times faster than traditional 2.5” SSDs, thereby facilitating real-time data processing and storage. With the inclusion of the Intel® Wireless-AC 2x2 solution, POC-624 transmits data more reliably and 12 times faster compared to traditional BGN 1x1 solutions.

Advantech’s POC-624 medical-grade POC terminal is available for order now. For more information about this or other Advantech products or services, contact your local sales representative or visit the Advantech website

Outpatient areas: Intelligent self-check-in and queuing systems, interactive wayfinding and information kiosks.

On the ward: Intelligent medication dispensing systems, patient infotainment, mobile devices for clinicians and mobile point-of-care systems.

In the operating room: Integrated patient monitoring, HD endoscope display, medical asset management, environment monitoring and medical imaging to empower surgical intelligence.

In nurse clinics: Self-service vital sign measurement, telemetry monitoring at point-of-care, mobile workstations and tablets.

More on Advantech iHealthcare: https://select.advantech.com/ihealthcare/

Medical devices

Regulating medical devices from 1 January 2021 The end of the transition period is nearly upon us, meaning that 1 January 2021 will see many changes in government legislation come into force. Here, we look at the MHRA guidance on what post-Brexit medical device regulation will look like The UK has left the EU, and the transition Bodies also continuing to be valid for the period after Brexit comes to an end this year.

Great Britain market until 30 June 2023.

From 1 January 2021 the Medicines and However, after the transition period, the EU Healthcare products Regulatory will no longer recognise UK Notified Agency (MHRA) will take Bodies and UK Notified Bodies on the responsibilities will not be able to issue CE From for the UK medical certificates and will become devices market UK Approved Bodies 1 Janua ry 2021, t that are currently from 1 January 2021. he roles undertaken through Furthermore, a new r and esponsib the EU system. route to market and those m ilities of From 1 January product marking a and sup nufacturing 2021, there will will be available for plying m also be a number manufacturers wishing edical devices of changes to how to place a device on will medical devices the Great Britain market c hange are placed on the from 1 January 2021. market in Great Britain.

From that date, all medical According to guidance from devices, including in vitro the MHRA this includes CE diagnostic medical devices (IVDs), marking continuing to be recognised placed on the UK market will need to be in Great Britain until 30 June 2023, with registered with the MHRA. There will be certificates issued by EU-recognised Notified a grace period for registering: Class IIIs

and Class IIb implantables, and all active implantable medical devices and IVD List A products must be registered from 1 May 2021; Other Class IIb and all Class IIa devices and IVD List B products and Self-Test IVDs must be registered from 1 September 2021; and Class I devices, custom-made devices and general IVDs (that do not currently need to be registered) must be registered from 1 January 2022.

Manufacturers of Class I devices, custommade devices and general IVDs that are currently required to register their devices with the MHRA must continue to register their devices from 1 January 2021 on the same basis as they do now until the new registration requirements start to apply to those devices. If you are a manufacturer based outside the UK and wish to place a device on the Great Britain market, you will need to appoint a single UK Responsible Person who will take responsibility for the product in the UK. E Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

Pneumatic Tube Systems with innovative AntiVirus protection materials,tested against human coronavirus NL63 using ISO 21702 As the country continues to fight the coronavirus pandemic, Sumetzberger AntiVirus technology offers the world first holistic disinfection solution for pneumatic tube systems

Pneumatic Tube Systems have already been proven to be particularly important in hospital environments against the spread of viruses and bacteria by reducing personal contact. There is however still a risk left for cross-contamination through contact with carriers, transportation air and equipment handling. But thanks to the complete AntiVirus Pneumatic Tube System from Sumetzberger, this remaining risk will be finally eliminated. The AntiVirus system contains special barrier measures which destroy possible remaining sources of infection in and on transportation carriers, user interfaces and equipment. The holistic seven-component solution combines for the first time antimicrobial materials, HEPA filter, germicidal lamps, and an automated disinfection spray with high tech cleaning products, contactless discharge methods and software controlled, automated cleaning processes. Easy to install in existing PT Systems to upgrade them to the protection level needed due to the Covid-19 situation!

Through a novel manufacturing process, silver ion additives are embedded in the material of the AntiVirusCarrier and the user interfaces. Due to their antimicrobial properties, they are ideal for use in busy and fast-paced environments.

The antimicrobial material demonstrably reduces the presence and spread of pathogenic microbes and viruses like Covid-19.

A further safety measure to prevent the spread of germs are the time-saving and

contactless automatic loading and unloading stations. A special feature of both station types is the option to integrate them in system equipment, thus creating a link between PT Systems und Automated Transport Systems.

Every existing Pneumatic Tube System can be easy upgraded with the innovative Sumetzberger DisinfectionGate to ensure the protection of employees and patients. All materials used to produce AntiVirus Sumetzberger transportation carriers, are tested by an authorised third party laboratory and got a test report according to ISO 21702 Antimicrobial and Anti Virus stress test. This innovative solution allows a fully integrated installation, or can be used in any competitor system as a manual operated STAND ALONE equipment, independent from PTS brand to disinfect existing carriers manually using the DisinfectionGate to protect employees from harmful germs like Covid-19.

The DisinfectionGate uses either 245 to 285 Nano UV-C radiations, tested according to EN17272. Automated disinfection spray or both disinfection methods are used to eliminate viruses and bacteria. The unique design of this DisinfectionGate, additionally enables freefloating UV-C lamps, providing full radiation coverage and/or spraying coverage, meaning no area of the carrier remains untreated.

The Sumetzberger DisinfectionControl Software was specially developed for hospital use; protective measures ensure that fragile goods like blood samples cannot be damaged during the disinfection process. Due to the DisinfectionControl Software, both the disinfection time and intervals can be selected.

Disinfection will be executed fully automated on AutoUnload carriers. Thanks to the integrated

ID carrier check, all irradiation processes are displayed in real time and are fully documented in the Sumetzberger data base. In combination with the innovative AntiVirus carriers, this provides maximum protection for the staff.

However, the innovative DisinfectionControl software is not only responsible for monitoring and documentation of carrier disinfection, but is able to control all AntiVirus activities in the system. This innovative software identifies and analyses all necessary AntiVirus actions to eliminate viruses and bacteria in the entire system. Idle times are calculated and optimally utilized due to the fully automated cleaning processes. Alternative routes are automatically calculated if sections are blocked for disinfection. Partial sections can be blocked manually short-term or regularly and automatically after individual definable disinfection cycles. Thanks to this innovative software, viruses and bacteria such as Covid19 can be fought and system availability ensured at the same time. The integrated remote maintenance program allows clarifying important questions with the support team.

Further components of the AntiVirus System are special pneumatic tube Sumetzberger HEPA filters and DisinfectionCarrier for the tube system.

Sumetzberger HEPA filters are used to clean the air required for the transport of carriers third party tested according EN1822 Class H14. These AntiVirus filters, made of sub-micron fibreglass matrix, create a germ-free environment in the PT System. Clean room air enters the system, clean air leaves the system. To ensure that there is no cross-contamination, no transport air is released at the station. The compact design guarantees space-saving installation and easy upgrade.

The automated spraying ‘patent pending’ DisinfectionCarrier can be used for disinfecting pipes and - due to the innovative design - also for primary cleaning, fine cleaning and additional use of UV-C radiation lamps. All functionalities can be carried out within one transmission process.

Unique Sumetzberger AntiVirus tubes for PT Systems, with innovative polymer composition in silver ion technology with test reports according to antimicrobial and Anti Virus ISO 21702 fully protect staff and patients.

Sumetzberger AntiVirus technology offers the world first holistic disinfection solution for pneumatic tube systems. It guarantees maximum protection level needed caused by the Covid-19 situation! L FURTHER INFORMATION www.sumetzberger.at

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Manufacturing and supplying devices in Great Britain From 1 January 2021, the roles and responsibilities of those manufacturing and supplying medical devices, including IVDs, will change. Manufacturers wishing to place a device on the Great Britain market will first need to register with the MHRA. Where a manufacturer is not established in the UK, they will need to appoint a UK Responsible Person to register and act on their behalf.

After the transition period, any medical device, IVD or custom-made device, of all classes, will need to be registered with the MHRA before being placed on the Great Britain market. In Great Britain, devices must conform to the UK MDR 2002, the EU MDR (until 30 June 2023), or the EU IVDR (until 30 June 2023) in order to be registered with the MHRA. The MHRA will only register devices where the manufacturer or their UK Responsible Person has a registered place of business in the UK. If the manufacturer is based outside the UK, they will need to appoint a UK Responsible Person that has a registered place of business in the UK. This UK Responsible Person will then assume the

Medical devices

 Legislation that will apply in Great Britain Currently, devices are regulated under three directives: Directive 90/385/EEC on active implantable medical devices (EU AIMDD); Directive 93/42/EEC on medical devices (EU MDD); and Directive 98/79/EC on in vitro diagnostic medical devices (EU IVDD).

These directives are given effect in UK law through the Medical Devices Regulations 2002 and will continue to have effect in Great Britain after the transition period, in the form in which they exist on 1 January 2021.

This means that the Great Britain route to market and UKCA marking requirements will continue to be based on the requirements derived from current EU legislation.

The EU Medical Devices Regulation (EUMDR) and EU in vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation (EU IVDR) will fully apply in EU Member States from 26 May 2021 and 26 May 2022 respectively. As these regulations will not take effect until after the transition period, they will not be EU law automatically retained by the EU Withdrawal Agreement Act and will therefore not automatically apply in Great Britain. This means that the provisions contained within the EU MDR and EU IVDR will not be transposed into law in Great Britain and will not be implemented in Great Britain.

The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, which delivered its report this July, has highlighted the importance of strengthened regulations that do more to protect patients. The MHRA is committed to improving the standards and scrutiny of medical devices that reach UK patients. This will be enabled through the powers currently being created through the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill.

As part of this, the organisation will take into consideration international standards and global harmonisation in the development of any future system.

The UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) mark is a new UK product marking that will be used for certain goods, including medical devices, being placed on the Great Britain market after the transition period responsibilities of the manufacturer in terms of registering the device with the MHRA. Given that this is an extension of existing registration requirements, there will be a grace period to allow time for compliance with the new registration process. These registration requirements will not apply until after the transition period.

The following devices must be registered with the MHRA if they are being placed on the Great Britain market from 1 May 2021: active implantable medical devices; Class III medical devices; Class IIb implantable medical devices; and IVD List A products.

The following devices must be registered with the MHRA if they are being placed on the Great Britain market from 1 September 2021: Class IIb non-implantable medical devices; Class IIa medical devices; IVD List B products; and self-test IVDs. The following devices must be registered with the MHRA if they are being placed on the Great Britain market from 1 January 2022: Class I medical devices; and general IVDs. The UKCA mark and labelling The UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) mark is a new UK product marking that will be used for certain goods, including medical devices, being placed on the Great Britain market after the transition period. The UKCA mark will not be recognised in the EU, EEA or Northern Ireland markets, and products currently requiring a CE marking will still need a CE marking for sale in these markets.

Manufacturers will be able to use the UKCA mark on a voluntary basis from 1 January 2021. Where third party conformity assessment is required, a UK Approved Body will be needed. However, Class I device manufacturers will be able to self-certify against the UKCA mark from 1 January 2021.

From 1 January 2021, the MHRA will be able to designate UK Approved Bodies to

conduct assessments against the relevant requirements for the purpose of the UKCA mark. Existing UK Notified Bodies with designations under the EU MDD, EU IVDD or EU AIMDD will have their designations rolled over automatically, without having to undergo a new designation process.

For the purposes of the Great Britain market, UK Approved Bodies will only be able to conduct conformity assessments in relation to the UKCA mark, for medical devices, active implantable medical devices and in vitro diagnostic medical devices under Parts II, III, and IV of the UK MDR 2002 (in the form in which they exist on 1 January 2021). UK Approved Bodies will not be able to conduct conformity assessments in relation to the CE marking other than for the purposes of the ‘CE UKNI’ marking, which will be valid in Northern Ireland.

As of 1 January 2021, medical devices placed on the Great Britain market will need to have either a UKCA mark or a CE marking, depending on which legislation the device has been certified under. Where relevant, the number of the Notified Body or Approved Body will also need to appear on the label.

If you already have a valid CE marking on your device, you will not be required to re-label the device with a UKCA mark until 1 July 2023 for placement on the Great Britain market.

Devices can have both marks present on the labelling prior to 1 July 2023, and dual marking will continue to be accepted on the Great Britain market after 1 July 2023. However, from 1 January 2021 the name and address of the UK Responsible Person, where applicable, will need to be included on product labelling where the UKCA mark has been affixed (including when devices have been dual marked). L FURTHER INFORMATION www.gov.uk

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Medical devices

Raising awareness of the Yellow Card scheme For medicines and vaccines in children under 18 years old you should report any suspected ADRs even if the reaction is well recognised At the start of the year, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency launched a week long social media campaign to raise awareness of the importance of reporting suspected side effects of taking multiple medicines using the Yellow Card Scheme.

The week focused on polypharmacy: which is defined as the simultaneous use of four or more medicines (prescription, over-thecounter general sales list, or traditional medicines) at the same time. Polypharmacy can increase the likelihood of a patient having side effects, medication errors, as well as the risk of interactions between medicines and with foods or herbal products.

Although polypharmacy is common in older people, anyone who routinely uses multiple medicines at the same time can be affected.

Doctors and other healthcare professionals are also being encouraged to review their patients’ medications intake, especially when prescribing, dispensing and administrating multiple medicines, as well as being vigilant to monitor, detect and report suspected side effects to the Yellow Card Scheme.

Mick Foy, Head of Pharmacovigilance Strategy at the MHRA, said in February: “Protecting patients is our topmost priority.

Patients, their carers, and healthcare professionals are asked to report suspected side effects on a Yellow Card to the MHRA online or via the app. Reporting helps to improve the safety of medicines for all patients and can result in better tailored

prescribing or administrative advice and information about monitoring, which can help improve adherence to treatment, and ultimately improves patient safety.”

child and that 75 per cent of parents would ask a doctor for advice if their children had suffered an ADR. Although increasing numbers of medicines specifically have a licensed indication for use in children, many are still used ‘off-label’. All medicines must undergo extensive testing and clinical trials to ensure that they are safe and effective, but it is more challenging to undertake pre‑market testing of medicines in children as they are vulnerable with developmental, physiological and psychological differences from adults.

This means the collection of ADRs for medicines used in children is especially important as, at the time of licensing, there may be limited information available.

ADRs Many NHS professionals know about the Yellow Card Scheme, which acts as an early warning system receiving reports of ADRs from healthcare professionals and patients from medicines and vaccines. The MHRA relies on healthcare professionals to report ADRs and they are recognised as key contributors to the Scheme making up 83 per cent of the total reports received.

However, as for all such reporting systems, there is significant underreporting of ADRs with some studies estimating that between What to report?

10-15 per cent of serious cases are reported.

For medicines and vaccines in children The level of underreporting varies depending under 18 years old you should report any on a number of factors including whether suspected ADRs even if the reaction is well the medicine is new and carries the black recognised, you are strongly encouraged triangle symbol. With increasing workloads to report all: serious reactions (fatal, lifeand demands on NHS staff something that threatening, a congenital abnormality, is voluntary can often be forgotten despite it disabling or incapacitating, being a professional responsibility. resulting in hospitalisation, A key area of concern is or medically significant). the safety of medicines 59 per c You should also report used in children where e n t of paren any severe reactions use continues to rise. t s h ave self-med (resulting in harm to Previous MHRA child an icated their the patient or more research found extreme in nature), that 59 per cent of cent of d that 75 per p as well as reactions parents have selfa r e n ts would ask a do to black triangle medicated their c medicines and if their ctor for advice hild vaccines, unlicensed sufferedren had medicines and herbal an products. What’s more, ADR professionals should report medication errors resulting in harm to a child (including abuse, misuse and overdose), and reactions considered unusual for any reason including those not listed in the product information of a medicine.

Yellow Card reports are evaluated alongside other data to determine whether any regulatory action is required to allow medicines to be used more safely and effectively. This can include restrictions in use, reclassification, refinement of dosage instructions or the introduction of specific warnings of side-effects in product information. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.mhra.gov.uk/yellowcard

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Covid catalogue

CCS and creating a covid secure workplace Since the start of the coronavirus outbreak, the Crown Commercial Service received thousands of offers from suppliers across the UK to provide goods and services to the public and third sector. The resulting Covid Catalogue is explored below Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic to the public and third sector during the in March, organisation across the country coronavirus outbreak. The consequential from a range of sectors have had to initiate catalogue of supplier offers, which is updated new ways of working. Whether daily, categories each of the goods and it be hospitals finding new services offered by what’s on offer ways to accommodate and the region it is offered in. an increasing number This ranges from technology Organis of patients, local to security solutions, councils seeking building facilities to are able ations t o new ways of consultancy advice. a c i c n ess novativ coordinating Speaking at Procurex e security solution meetings without National at the start of s to assis through CC being able to September, Simon Tse, t the tr S congregate chief executive of the CCS, a o n f staff b s in person, or said that the organisation ack to tition construction had received 9,000 offers he workpl ace companies trying to of support from suppliers to help the government source non-medical common ‘Build Back Better’, goods and services. This, he despite normal working announced, had enabled public conditions being off limits. sector bodies to access goods including Crown Commercial Service, the clear plastic screens, sanitisers, cleaning procurement arm of the government, has products, and office and school supplies. received thousands of offers from suppliers The outbreak presents an urgent and across the UK to provide goods and services unique challenge for both commercial

and non-commercial colleagues across the public and third sector. One of the challenges for CCS customers is ensuring that they continue to buy compliantly, in line with current procurement regulations.

When buying common goods and services, CCS would always recommend that you use existing commercial agreements, which will help ensure your procurement is compliant and that you benefit from our supplier management and preagreed terms, while continuing to achieve great commercial outcomes.

Here, we look at some of these areas in detail and how CCS and its suppliers are helping to keep businesses open, public services running and the health sector continue its recovery with winter just around the corner.

The NHS and the immediate future of healthcare The government led response to the coronavirus pandemic has seen over two billion items of personal protective E

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 equipment (PPE) delivered to the frontline, covering acute, community, mental health and ambulance trusts as well as to GPs and social care organisations through the national logistics effort. As of the start of August, this included: over 337 million Type 11R facemasks; over 24 million FFP3 facemasks; and over 325 million aprons.

The urgent demand for PPE at the outbreak of Covid-19 earlier this year was so unprecedented that despite increasing staffing levels and running NHS Supply Chain’s network 24/7, it became clear more capacity was still needed to help ensure that PPE products were delivered to the front line. This led to the Government led initiative to establish the dedicated and totally separate PPE supply channel – set up by NHS England and NHS Improvement, NHS Supply Chain, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Clipper Logistics who are delivering the service. Therefore, the CCS catalogue does not contain offers of PPE. Working in the office Following remote working or closure, organisations have been reopening sites - despite contradictory messages from the government. Organisations are able to access innovative security solutions through CCS to assist the transition of staff back to the workplace.

One such product is thermal cameras for temperature screening. Using infrared technology, thermal cameras can detect radiating heat from a body to provide an estimated core body temperature. These cameras are an extremely powerful tool, often deployed by firefighters to track smouldering

embers and police to search for out-of-sight suspects. Technology has been developed in several formats from hand-held units to mounted cameras, providing increased safety as they allow measuring of multiple people, without the need for physical contact. Thermal cameras will enable businesses to rapidly check the temperature of staff or visitors as they enter a building without contact. They are suitable for workplaces with high footfalls; for example, there are thermal cameras that can scan more than 120 people per minute.

Moreover, personal proximity sensors can provide visible, audible and vibrating alerts when pre-set distancing rules are broken. These can be provided in a number of formats, from a removable sensor that can be attached to a belt or pocket using a hook, to a more advanced sensor that can be incorporated into a badge holder.

There are also a suite of physical access control products available. Controls such as pin pads or biometrics should be assessed, especially where direct contact is concerned.

For organisations at higher risk, especially where larger footfalls means there is increased difficulty to manage end-to-end security, the implementation of non-contact inspection of ID by guards might work in the short term with a view to transition to more advanced contactless systems (automated turnstiles/doors) in the long term.

Touch-free temperature screening terminal can be used to give staff an easier way to enter a building, record attendance and simultaneously check temperature without having to touch a terminal or gate, using face recognition and thermographic

Covid catalogue

Organisations are able to access innovative security solutions through CCS to assist the transition of staff back to the workplace.

One such product is thermal cameras for temperature screening.

Thermal cameras will enable businesses to rapidly check the temperature of staff or visitors as they enter a building without contact technologies. The touch-free nature of the terminals makes access easier and safer, suitable for long-term temperature screening with access control for any scenarios with a high footfall of people.

Systems can also be provided that allow for people to ‘self-check’ their temperature.

Digital display and signage In order to enable social distancing, it’s imperative that buildings and facilities limit the number of people allowed inside.

Many supermarkets, for instance, have a current maximum of 100 people let in at a time. The security market can provide automated density control solutions, which will automatically provide clear signage and ways to avoid overcrowding.

Digital display solutions are useful for clearly communicating live information to all your staff by combining temperature screening, density control and face mask detection information with digital and video messaging. It lets individuals know when they can enter your building along with displaying any specific messages in real-time.

At the end of May, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy released ‘Covid-19 secure’ guidelines to UK employers to help them get their businesses back up and running and workplaces operating as safely as possible. The guidance covers eight workplace settings which are allowed to be open, including outdoor environments, construction sites and factories.

Employers have been advised to carry out coronavirus risk assessments in consultation with their workers or trade unions, to establish what controls and guidelines to put in place, and to publish the results on their websites where possible. For the built environment this may include areas such as ensuring any necessary inspections or recommissioning of assets whether these be mechanical (including heating, cooling, ventilation and exhaustion), electrical, plumbing or building fabric related, undertaking repairs, additional FM services or communications with any landlords are assessed before reopening.

The CCS Estates Professional Services (EPS) and Facilities Management Marketplace agreements can support in helping you to identify and manage risk, against your own timelines, to current guidance for a compliant and safe reoccupation of your buildings.

Organisations have also had to think about re-designing workspaces to maintain two metre distances between people by staggering start times, creating one way walk-throughs, opening more entrances and exits, or changing seating layouts in break rooms. The CCS EPS, E Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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Advertisement Feature

Aid Call Proud To Support Dragon’s Heart Field Hospital In Cardiff, Wales Aid Call were delighted to get the call to support our NHS by supplying and installing safety critical emergency nurse call systems to the new Dragon’s Heart field hospital based at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales Aid Call were delighted to get the call to support our NHS by supplying and installing safety critical emergency nurse call systems to the new Dragon’s Heart field hospital based at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

For over 40 years Aid Call have been supplying hospitals with rapid response, emergency wireless nurse call packages with full business continuity plans for when their hardwired systems cannot be relied upon.

Covid-19 pandemic But In light of the current Covid-19 pandemic we have seen an increase in demand for our Touchsafe Pro critical emergency systems and are currently supplying large numbers on a quick turnaround to the NHS. As many hospitals are re-purposing areas into new wards or converting existing suitable buildings such as private hospitals, hotels and conference

centres into temporary field hospitals.

Many hospitals have taken advantage of our pre-programmed, straight out of the box, wireless set up, with open protocols, HTM and CQC compliance. To ensure the safety of both patients and staff with easy to use scalable wireless solutions.

This project to supply nurse call to all 11 wards in the Dragon’s Heart field hospital in Cardiff. Required over 400 Call Points and 11 Touchsafe Pro Panels and came with a quick turnaround of only 4 days between the initial enquiry and full onsite commission.

No time to lose As always, all our dedicated teams from our factory based in Blyth, Northumberland rose without question to the challenge and were able to assemble all required equipment the very same day. Enabling the shipment to be driven through the night

to the 11 strong engineering team who were primed to begin installation onsite at the Principality Stadium the next day and would continue over a 3 day period to ensure the installation completed on time.

Quick and efficient Aid Call have already supported many hospitals on a wide range emergency systems projects, as well as the Nightingale field hospital in Liverpool and now with the full site installation at the Dragon’s Heart field hospital Cardiff. This only highlights the exceptional flexibility of our teams at all levels throughout the business and cements our ability to react quickly and efficiently to the needs of our customer base at this very difficult time. L FURTHER INFORMATION www.aidcall.co.uk

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Audit Trail

Reinforcing cleaning processes Whether you require a deep clean before reopening premises, or you need to consider changing or introducing a new cleaning regime in response to changes in working patterns, ensuring risk of transmission is minimised is essential. Workplaces should be cleaned more frequently, paying close attention to high-contact touch points like door handles and keyboards. Employers should also provide handwashing facilities or hand sanitisers at entry and exit points.

The fairly new Buildings Cleaning dynamic purchasing system (DPS) provides easy access to this, and CCS created guidance on how to navigate your way through the additional requirements you may face. The procurement body is working closely with all of its experienced suppliers, across all relevant frameworks, so that they are set up to offer you the best solutions to ensure your workplace is Covid-19 secure.

Regarding cleaning requirements, you may require a contractor to undertake a one off deep clean before reopening or if you’ve had a confirmed case of coronavirus. Or,

Covid catalogue

 Furniture and Fit Out frameworks can help you understand the current usage of buildings from deliveries to office traffic, develop control of access measures and deliver occupational solutions to comply with relevant guidelines.

Where people cannot be two metres apart, employers should look into putting barriers or screens in shared spaces, creating workplace shift patterns or fixed teams minimising the number of people in contact with one another, or ensuring colleagues are facing away from each other. The same EPS and Furniture agreements can help plan social distancing planning, redesign spaces, monitor space usage and provide solutions to meet current guidance and enable future planning to update your Estate Strategy.

The Furniture and Associated Services agreement can support your organisation as you plan to reopen amid the new measures that have been put in place by the government, as well as your more general needs, from secure to recycled furniture. Listed suppliers are offering a range of products including protective screens, hand sanitiser stations and temperature screening booths, as well as consultancy services to help plan space in line with social distancing guidance.

There are also temporary solutions available, including working from home and removable furniture for when circumstances change.

Following customer feedback, the new agreement has been developed to provide a wider product offering than the previous iteration, and now includes: security-rated CPNI (Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure) furniture for securing your assets; fitted and bespoke furniture; specific furniture for the education sector; and remanufactured and recycled furniture; a cost-effective and sustainable alternative.

CCS says that 80 per cent of suppliers on this framework are SMEs, supporting the government’s ambition that, by 2022, one third of procurement spending is with small and medium-sized businesses.

Simon Tse, chief executive of the Crown Commercial Service, said that the organisation had received 9,000 offers of support from suppliers to source nonmedical common goods and services you may simply be considering your current cleaning contract and want to introduce a routine cleaning service that will meet your changing demands following the pandemic.

Providing easy to access commercial agreements and industry expertise, the CCS has two agreements in place which have approved suppliers who will be able to provide the services to the standards set out in your specification: Facilities Management Marketplace and Buildings Cleaning Services.

Linen and laundry Primarily targeting healthcare organisations, the new and improved Linen and Laundry Services framework is of particular interest to providers, including care homes, that have increased demand due to coronavirus. The framework has been developed to replace two previous frameworks and CCS has made a number of improvements based on feedback from both customers and suppliers: the lot structure has been revised to allow customers to run one procurement for all their linen and laundry needs; a specific lot for cleanroom services which is a new offering unique to CCS; revised evaluation and pricing methodology that promotes value for money; and the introduction of a direct award option (providing the requirement meets the criteria).

The framework is available for use by all public sector organisations including central government, wider public sector, charities and third sector.

Additionally, to help with your additional cleaning needs during the current coronavirus pandemic, the new Building Cleaning Services dynamic purchasing system (DPS) provides access to a range of cleaning services. The agreement provides easy access to a range of

internal, external and ad hoc deep cleaning services to ensure that your organisation is safe for reopening and thereafter.

The DPS has been designed to provide flexibility for both customers and suppliers and is available for use by all public sector organisations, including central government, wider public sector, charities and third sector.

The advantage of using the DPS and working with CCS means customers have the opportunity to benefit from: a simpler, quicker process for suppliers means CCS maximise the opportunity for local suppliers to bid for public sector business; a quick and easy automated selection process matches a list of qualifying suppliers that meet the customers’ requirements; as suppliers can join at any time, customers benefit from a constantly updated supplier list; creating their own specifications, in a way that suits their needs, giving flexibility based on the customers individual requirements; pre-agreed core terms established in line with best commercial practice to provide legal protection for customers and suppliers; access to category expertise and a range of support functions for the life of any contract awarded under the DPS. The Building Cleaning Services DPS offers public and third sector organisations the opportunity to procure a wide range of cleaning services from regional and national suppliers, through a streamlined procurement process, such as: one-off deep cleans; routine cleaning; exterior building cleaning; window cleaning; and specialist cleaning. L FURTHER INFORMATION tinyurl.com/qwzkjbw

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Advertisement Feature

Aerogen, global leader in aerosol drug delivery Aerogen’s closed-circuit nebuliser technology is being used in hospitals across both the UK and the rest of the world to deliver aerosolised medication to critically-ill ventilated Covid-19 patients 5. Reminiac F, Vecellio L, Bodet-Contentin L, Gissot V, Le Pennec D, Salmon Gandonniere C et al. Nasal high-flow bronchodilator nebulization: a randomized cross-over study. Ann Intensive Care 2018; 8: 128.

6. Dunne RB, Shortt S. Comparison of bronchodilator administration with vibrating mesh nebulizer and standard jet nebulizer in the emergency department. Am J Emerg Med 2018; 4:641–646.

7. Moody GB, Luckett PM, Shockley CM, Huang R, Ari A. Clinical Efficacy of Vibrating Mesh and Jet Nebulizers With Different Interfaces in Pediatric Subjects With Asthma. Respir Care 2020; : respcare.07538.

8. Chweich H, Idrees N, Rice L, Rideout J, Barnewolt B, Kamlarz S et al. Effectiveness of a Vibrating Mesh Aerosolizer Compared to a Jet Nebulizer for the Delivery of Bronchodilator Therapy to Acute Adult Asthmatics in the Emergency Department a Randomized Controlled Trial. American Thoracic Society, 2019, pp A2209–A2209.

9. Aerogen Internal data on file, Aug 2020

Aerogen is the world’s leading medical device company specialising in the design, manufacture, and commercialisation of aerosol drug delivery systems. Aerogen’s patented vibrating mesh technology turns liquid medication into a fine particle mist, gently and effectively delivering drugs to patients lungs.1,2,3 Aerogen’s innovative products, the Aerogen® Solo and Aerogen® Ultra, significantly improve aerosol drug delivery resulting in better patient care throughout the hospital and across all ages.4-8 Founded in Galway, Ireland in 1997, Aerogen has grown to become the global leader in high performance aerosol drug delivery and has partnered its technology with leading mechanical ventilation companies including Philips Healthcare, GE Healthcare, Medtronic, Getinge, Dräger, Hamilton, ResMed and IMT Medical.9 Aerogen technology is used by millions of patients and caregivers in the UK and in over 74 countries worldwide9.

Designed for the safety of both the patient and the caregiver, Aerogen is the only closed circuit aerosol drug delivery system for mechanically ventilated patients that mitigates the transmission of patient generated infectious aerosol10-16 and delivers effective aerosol treatment1,11,17. Aerogen’s closed-circuit nebuliser technology, which addresses key concerns around safety and improves patient outcomes,4–8 is being used in hospitals across both the UK and the rest of the world to deliver aerosolised medication to critically-ill ventilated Covid-19 patients.9 Multiple countries, including the UK, have recognised the benefit that Aerogen can bring to their patients. Aerogen technology is now featured in guidance documents and peer-reviewed publications on the treatment of Covid-19 patients from across the globe.11,15,16,18,19 The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)20 and Public Health England

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(PHE)21 have recommended the continued use of nebulised treatment when applicable.

Appropriate nebulised aerosol delivery can play a vital role in both treatment of Covid-19 patients via respiratory support such as mechanical ventilation11-14 and other therapies like high-flow nasal cannula and non-invasive ventilation15.

Aerogen was quick to anticipate the critical role that development of new inhaled drugs will ultimately play in the Covid-19 response and formed a Covid Unit to support projects researching potential treatments and vaccines. This unit is now working with pharmaceutical companies worldwide to ensure safe delivery of inhaled therapies for both the current and possible future pandemics.

For more information on Aerogen’s products or if you would like to have an Aerogen representative contact you, please visit us below. L

10. Aerogen Solo System Instruction Manual. Aerogen Ltd. 11. Ari, A. (2020). Practical strategies for a safe and effective delivery of aerosolized medications to patients with COVID-19. In Respiratory Medicine (Vol. 167). W.B. Saunders Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmed.2020.105987 12. Miller A, Epstein D. Safe bronchodilator treatment in mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients: A single center experience. J. Crit. Care. 2020; 58: 56–57 13. Respiratory care committee of Chinese Thoracic Society. [Expert consensus on preventing nosocomial transmission during respiratory care critically ill patients infected by 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia]. Zhonghua Jie He He Hu Xi Za Zhi 2020; 17: E020.

14. Fink JB, Ehrmann S, Li J, Dailey P, McKiernan P, Darquenne C et al.

Reducing AerosolRelated Risk of Transmission in the Era of COVID-19: An Interim Guidance Endorsed by the International Society of Aerosols in Medicine. J Aerosol Med Pulm Drug Deliv 2020; jamp.2020.1615.

15. Gómez C, Peñuelas Rodríguez Ó, Luján Torné M, Egea Santaolalla C, Masa Jiménez JF, García Fernández J et al. Clinical consensus recommendations regarding non-invasive respiratory support in the adult patient with acute respiratory failure secondary to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Med Intensiva 2020. doi:10.1016/j. medin.2020.03.005 16. Halpin DMG et al. Global Initiative for the Diagnosis,

FURTHER INFORMATION www.aerogen.com

Management, and Prevention of Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease: The 2020 GOLD Science Committee Report on COVID-19 & COPD. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2020 Nov 4. doi: 10.1164/ rccm.202009-3533SO. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33146552

References:

17. MacIntyre NR, Silver RM, Miller CW, Schuler F, Coleman RE. Aerosol

1. Dugernier J, Reychler G, Wittebole X, Roeseler J, Depoortere V, Sottiaux

delivery in intubated, mechanically ventilated patients. Crit Care Med

T et al. Aerosol delivery with two ventilation modes during mechanical

[Internet]. 1985/02/01. 1985 Feb [cited 2019 Apr 17];13(2):81–4.

ventilation: a randomized study. Ann Intensive Care 2016; 6: 73.

18. Chaudhry D, Govil D, Samavedam S, Kar A, Kulkarni AP, Zirpe

2. Dugernier J, Hesse M, Vanbever R, Depoortere V, Roeseler J,

KG et al. Airway Management and Related Procedures in Critically

Michotte JB et al. SPECT-CT Comparison of Lung Deposition using

Ill COVID-19 Patients: Position Statement of the Indian Society of

a System combining a Vibrating-mesh Nebulizer with a Valved Holding

Critical Care Medicine. Indian J Crit Care Med 2020; 24: 630–642.

Chamber and a Conventional Jet Nebulizer: a Randomized

19. Swarnakar R, Gupta N, Halder I, Khilnani G. ICS guidance for

Cross-over Study. Pharm Res 2017; 34: 290–300.

nebulization during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lung India 2020; 0: 0.

3.Dugernier J, Hesse M, Jumetz T, Bialais E, Roeseler J, Depoortere V

20. Overview | COVID-19 rapid guideline: community-

et al. Aerosol Delivery with Two Nebulizers Through High-Flow Nasal

based care of patients with chronic obstructive

Cannula: A Randomized Cross-Over Single-Photon Emission Computed

pulmonary disease (COPD) | Guidance | NICE.

Tomography-Computed Tomography Study. J Aerosol Med Pulm Drug

21. COVID-19 infection prevention and control guidance: aerosol

Deliv 2017; 30: 349–358.

generating procedures - GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/

4. Avdeev S, Nuraieva G, Soe AK, Fink JB. Comparison of response to

publications/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-infection-prevention-and-control/

aerosol drug delivery with mesh and jet nebulizers during non-invasive

covid-19-infection-prevention-and-control-guidance-aerosol-

ventilation (NIV) in acute exacerbation of COPD Poster ERS 2017;

generating-procedures (accessed 10 Nov2020).

50: PA1894.

PM870

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS | www.healthbusinessuk.net

IT

ENERGY

Virtual IT department offering peace of mind

Adveco L70 ASHP for hot water with 70 per cent less CO2

Kamazoy Virtual IT Department can offer piece of mind for you and your business.

IT is an essential part of your business. It is a vital tool to help you, your employees and your business achieve more. Investing in your IT infrastructure brings results, in increased productivity, overall efficiency, company morale and ultimately, customer satisfaction.

Kamazoy is a friendly team who are eager to help. When supporting your business after you log an issue, Kamazoy will assess the problem and make a plan to fix it within the first hour and aim to have it fixed within four hours. And, if the company spots a problem before you, you can bet

that they will be on it straightaway, keeping you updated throughout.

Kamazoy Virtual IT Department is here to help your business be the best. Whatever your needs, contact Kamazoy and have a chat about how the organisation can support your business with its IT solutions.

Products and services include IT support, networking, cloud services, back-up, PCs & servers, IT security, internet, leased lines, VoIP, office moves, procurement, and installation.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 0330 363 2000 hello@kamazoy.uk https://kamazoy.uk/

Able to draw and transfer thermal energy from air, Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP) under the right circumstances represent an efficient way to significantly reduce the carbon emissions of a building. Commercial hot water and heating specialist Adveco now extends its ASHP offering with the Adveco L70, a high capacity monobloc air-to-water heat pump.

Bill Sinclair, technical director at Adveco, said: “In conjunction with Adveco’s bespoke application design, the L70 offers a comprehensive response for sustainable hybrid domestic hot water (DHW) and heating. Hospitals, clinics and care facilities planning new builds or refurbishment of existing building stock can gain

high-efficiency, low-emission, low cost to operate systems.”

Calibrated for the UK climate, the L70 operates with ambient temperatures of -20 to +35°C. When temperatures plummet, the L70 automatically provides built-in frost protection.

Achieving water temperatures up to 60°C, the L70 can be used to supply preheat for hybrid applications with regular hot water demand. The L70 will dramatically lower CO2 when analysed using the carbon intensity figures from the new SAP10. Compared to gas-fired systems the carbon emissions are reduced by around 70 per cent, when using the SCOP of 3.47 (Ecodesign reference design temperature of 2°C for the UK and water temperature at 55°C).

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 01252 551 540 www.adveco.co

FLOORING

COMMUNICATIONS

Flooring instillation service specialising in healthcare sector

Leading the way with innovations in the Nurse Call market

From the initial survey to the completion of the job, Flooring Matters SW Ltd provides a professional installation service of commercial and contract floor coverings, wall and floor tiling, and hygienic wall coverings.

Specialising in works to the healthcare sector, the company is able to offer the full effective impervious Altro walls and floor package which includes a 20 year system guarantee and delivers a safe, hygienic and fire-compliant solution for the healthcare environment. Being hygienic vinyl products with heat welded seams, Altro Whiterock and Altro vinyl floors have no grout gaps to harbour bacteria, germs and mould - essential for areas of utmost hygienic importance. Altro products are

also available in an extensive range of colours to make a welcoming and aesthetically pleasing environment.

Much of Flooring Matters’ work is repeat business which is testament to its customer satisfaction. Being members of the Contract Flooring Association, the organisation always aims to deliver a professional and high quality service that is on time and within budget. Its professional fitters have a minimum qualification of NVQ2 in resilient and impervious floor coverings and carry a CSCS card. Flooring Matters also separates all of its vinyl waste accordingly so that zero per cent goes to landfill and is recycled using the recoflor scheme.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 07545161821 flooringmatters@hotmail.co.uk www.flooringmatters.org

Austco has been supplying, installing and maintaining highend Nurse Call systems into the healthcare sector around the world for many years. Since the year 2000 Austco has been installing systems in the UK, and the technology implemented has been improving year-on-year.

The company’s products include a digital offering (Medicom), and an IP offering (Tacera). Tacera comes with a number of options including Pulse Reporting, Pulse Mobile, Customisable workflow management, annunciator and whiteboards as well as a host of integrations.

Now, Austco is proud to announce its latest innovations and developments that include:

built-in RTLS, meaing that there is no need for 3rd party equipment; automatic presence; automatic call cancel (where required); voice activated alarms; and wireless mobile devices to operate with Pulse-Mobile.

There is an upgrade path from Medicom to Tacera for those wanting to take advantage of the latest technology and innovations.

Austco prides itself on the quality of products and services provided. The organisation’s maintenance offerings are flexible, working with customers’ needs. Technical support is offered as standard with the company’s Maintenance Agreements, and this can be offered on a 24 hour basis.

FURTHER INFORMATION Tel: 01527877778 sales.uk@austco.com www.austco.com

Issue 20.4 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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ADVERTISERS INDEX The publishers accept no responsibility for errors or omissions in this free service 3B Data Security

82

4c Strategies

90

Advantech Service- ioT Gmbh

92

Adveco 105 Aerogen 104 Ari-Armaturen UK

50

Asckey Data Services

28

Aspect Contracts

45

Austco 105 Big Dug

16,18

Bradley Environmental

42

Brentwood Communications

26

Bulletproof Cyber

80

Clear Visual Communications

24

Clearwater Technology

38

Conamar 98 Cyberguard Technologies

86

Cybourn 90 Daikin Applied (UK) DDC Dolphin

6 48

Debt Recovery Plus

IBC,16,20

Eido Healthcare UK

8

Ergochair 62,63 Fairford Medical Fire Doors Complete Flooring Matters

OBC 68,69 105

Fujitsu 16 Genmed 72

INFECTION CONTROL

50-year-old product makes dramatic comeback to help beat the virus

The current coronavirus pandemic has created an urgent need for all protective equipment – both for personal use and in the working environment. This is the reason the Melaphone has come into its own again.

Its unique design, with its resonating membrane and air-sealed construction, make it the ideal device to install in any situation where face-to-face communication occurs. It is a simple but really ingenious invention which requires no servicing, wiring or electrical supply. And it is very easy to keep clean and safe with an antiseptic wipe.

The Melaphone has now been built into the new Defender Virus Screens produced by the company

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and numerous doctors’ surgeries, medical centres, clinics and pharmacies in the UK have had these screens installed with considerable success and approval.

The Melaphone is still available as a stand-alone unit for installation into walls, glass or plastic screens, windows or doors. It can easily be retrofitted into existing structures and requires no special skill to install. The range has been expanded to meet the growing demand for the units. In addition to the original brushed aluminium model there is a stainless steel model, a white powder-coated aluminium model and the newest and highly successful Himacs acrylic-resin model, which is at a very popular price.

FURTHER INFORMATION www.melaphone.co.uk

GoJo Industries-Europe

56

Immersive Labs Corporation

84

Ing.Sumetzberger GMBH

94

ISS 46,47 Jones AV

12,18

Legrand

102

LFS Fire

39

Lockncharge 4 M & G Fire Protection

44

Netcall 14 Nettitude Group

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NMCN Plc

36

Office Depot

IFC

Omniscope Consulting

78

Opex Business Machines

76

Philips 10,16 Pier Contractors PPL Training

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Protect Structures

66

Radiocoms Systems

32

Screentec Oy

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Sundown Solutions Talbot Designs

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Treewise Solutions

34

Trinity Fire & Security Systems

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Tristel Solutions

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Trojans Bins

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VITD Group

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Voiceboxx Communications

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Wellsky International

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Yeoman Shield

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Yewdale Corporation

100

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS | www.healthbusinessuk.net

Need interim radiography?

Think inside the box.

CS052 Siemens SOMATOM go.AII CT

Fairford Medical offers the highest-quality mobile and relocatable CT and MRI systems for interim rental or longer term lease.

• Choose a Fairford mobile unit and you’ll have the scanner you need, when and where you need it.

Fairford Medical also buys end-of-life diagnostic imaging equipment with fully-managed removals, patient data deletion and full transfer of risk to Fairford on purchase.

• Call us for a no-obligation valuation. Your used diagnostic equipment is needed somewhere in the world and is probably worth more than you think!

Please contact us for a no obligation chat +44 20 7317 3000 for more information or email: info@fairfordmedical.com or visit: www.fairfordmedical.com

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FAIRFORD MEDICAL LTD 5 FITZHARDINGE STREET LONDON W1H 6ED Issue 20.3 | HEALTH BUSINESS MAGAZINE T: +44 20 7317 3000 E: info@fairfordmedical.com W: www.fairfordmedical.com

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