AMBULANCE SANITISATION CASE STUDY THE 1ST RAPID SBRI OF ITS KIND

During the pandemic the Welsh Ambulance Service (WAST) ambulances had to be thoroughly cleaned once a patient with suspected COVID-19 had been transported. These cleaning times would be a minimum of 45 minutes but could take up to 2 hours and, in some circumstances, had to be undertaken at specialist cleaning centres which could be some distance away from the ambulances station or hospital site. This resulted in an increased strain on an already busy and pressurised service as the vehicles could not be used until the cleaning was completed.

This challenge looked to identify, develop and demonstrate rapid sanitising technologies to help the WAST teams. Due to the rapid and evolving nature of the COVID-19 Pandemic the SBRI Centre along with colleagues within Welsh Government decided to undertake a ‘rapid’ SBRI. This approach was the first of its kind within the UK to enable any technologies to be accessed quickly. This project managed to accelerate the SBRI process from a 12-18 month process into 6 weeks.

This project was an integrated collaboration throughout with WAST, SBRI Centre and the Welsh Government. In addition building upon skills from across other UK departments including the Defence and Security Accelerator and the Defence and Security Technology Laboratories

Jonathan Turnbull-Ross, Assistant Director of Quality Governance said:

“SBRI have enabled the Trust, and key staff, to undertake an ambitious innovation project at the most challenging of times.”

Hygiene Pro Clean was one of just 12 suppliers selected for testing and their product has now been adopted by the Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust (WAST). Hygiene Pro Clean designed an ultrasonic atomisation delivery system which diffuses a highly effective decontamination solution in a soft plume-shaped spray; ensuring uniform dispersal reducing overspray and waste. The system, combined with HPC’s training and protocols, provides an effective decontamination of any void or space.

Adopting this technology has brought about many savings for WAST

• Reducing the time, it takes to clean an ambulance by 86%.

• Reducing the cost of cleaning an ambulance by 82%

• Giving the staff the time to undertake other duties whilst the cleaning process is underway.

• Ability to be able to produce a ‘gold standard’ of cleaning

Benefits to the Business and Economy

The Hygiene Pro Clean solution was procured by the Welsh Ambulance Service at an initial/capital outlay of circa £75k.

The SBRI challenge has also assisted the business by:

• The creation of a further 2 jobs.

• Further contracts obtained totalling £308K

• Further projections for finance and jobs created over the next 12 months to 3 years

– Directly related to the Ambulance service £300-450K. Indirectly into other emergency services and the wider industry >£1m and potential to grow the team by another 7-10 direct staff.

• The technology is now also used in any other areas including the Police Force, Fire Brigade & applied to many industry sectors or problems.

Lynda Jones, Head of the SBRI Centre of Excellence, expressed her pride in the centre’s achievements: "Through our collaborative approach and commitment to pushing boundaries, we have been able to make a real difference. We look forward to continuing our work and delivering even greater successes in the future."