Hospital + Healthcare Operating Rooms Suppliers Guide 2024

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The peak industry body representing over two-thirds of all day hospital facilities across the country is holding its annual national conference at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre from 28–30 August 2024.

The conference, themed Solutions for the New Reality, will feature discussions on pressing issues facing the day hospital sector and exploring innovative solutions to overcome challenges and drive growth.

Innovations and technological advancements are transforming surgical treatments and pre- and post-operative care, facilitating minimally invasive procedures, improved precision and efficiency, and faster recovery. This issue’s lead article explores the role of artificial intelligence in surgeries, highlighting opportunities and challenges.

While hospitals and health services have been working hard to improve patient outcomes, surgical services continue to face a range of challenges. Jane Griffiths, CEO, Day Hospitals Australia, believes the way that the healthcare system is funded no longer suits the complexities of our large, aging

population and the health issues Australians are commonly facing. The industry body is advocating for a new approach to national health that would make the health system more effective by allowing day hospitals to play a bigger role in alleviating the pressure on the public health system.

Around the country there is between 20% and 30% capacity in private day hospitals that could be used by the public health system to reduce surgery wait lists, according to Griffiths.

To hear more from Griffiths and other professionals in the day hospitals space, make sure you attend DHA’s annual conference this August. In the meantime, enjoy this Operating Room Special edition featuring informationpacked articles, insights, new products and company listings.

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The future of

surgical AI

From enhancing diagnostics to transforming surgical planning and treatment, artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly important role in health care as services and providers around the world strive to use technology to improve patient outcomes and reduce time spent by health professionals on operational and administrative tasks.

The global AI in healthcare market is estimated to reach US$188bn by 2030, according to data gathering and visualisation firm Statista.

Closer to home, research firm insights10 predicts the Australian AI in healthcare market to grow from $0.08bn in 2022 to $1.78bn by 2030, registering a CAGR of 46.72% during the forecast period of 2022–2030.

If the University of Adelaide researchers are to be believed, Australia and New Zealand could become international leaders in the safe use of artificial intelligence (AI) in surgery. “But first there needs to be guidelines in place to safeguard patients”, the researchers warned. In a recent report published in the Medical Journal of Australia, the researchers highlight opportunities, challenges and recommendations for AI in surgical services.

The Adelaide Score

“There is no doubt that AI has the potential to change surgical services for the better, improving diagnostic accuracy and efficiency.

The Adelaide Score algorithm is the perfect example of this as we have shown that it can successfully predict discharge within a 12- to 24-hour period, potentially helping to improve patient management in hospitals,” said first author of the study and University of Adelaide researcher Dr Joshua Kovoor from the Adelaide Medical School.

The Adelaide Score study included general surgery patients at two tertiary hospitals over a two-year period. The tool could be useful for both treating teams and allied health staff within surgical systems, according to the researchers. While the technology offers many benefits, there are also some limitations and “it should in no way replace hospital staff. It should always be used as an assistive tool, and its implementation needs to be carefully regulated,” Kovoor said.

Surgical staff across Australia and New Zealand must become familiar with interpreting and transparently communicating the inputs and outputs of AI tools.

Emerging applications

Dr Chris Varghese from Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, New Zealand, echoed similar thoughts about the opportunities of AI in surgical services.

The technology has potential in improving every aspect of surgical care — before, during and after treatment, said Varghese and colleagues in an article published in Nature Medicine

“Each time that we leave hospital, we are at increased risk of having complications from surgery,” Varghese said.

“AI has got a real potential to provide monitoring and safety-netting to ensure that we can mitigate and prevent some of these complications and enhance the recovery that you’re able to achieve at home.”

Current AI applications in surgery have been mostly limited to unimodal deep learning, with emerging applications including computer vision, training, diagnostics and postoperative monitoring amongst others.

“AI is trying to learn what surgeons see, what the surgical instruments look like, what different organs look like. And the potential there is to identify abnormal anatomy and [determine] what the safest approach to an operation might be.

“Using virtual reality and augmented reality to plan ahead of surgeries can be really useful for cutting out cancers and more.”

An evidence-based approach

Senior author Professor Guy Maddern, the R.P Jepson Professor of Surgery at the University of Adelaide and a hepatobiliary surgeon at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, emphasised the need for a strict evidence-based approach that reflects international frameworks as well as local factors.

“AI also presents many challenges. Surgeons may have difficulty having confidence in AIassisted recommendations due to the lack of reasoning behind the decisions,” Maddern said.

AI systems are frequently described as ‘black boxes’ due to the absence of reproducible reasoning underpinning their decisionmaking processes. This lack of transparency may make it difficult for surgeons to have confidence in AI-assisted recommendations, particularly in circumstances where there are major differences between specialist surgeon opinion and AI.

Surgical staff across Australia and New Zealand must become familiar with interpreting and transparently communicating the inputs and outputs of AI tools, the authors suggest. Staff should encourage patients to ask questions and express concerns, and provide information to aid patient-friendly explanations, they added.

“When using AI tools, surgical staff should comprehensively document their rationale for all clinical decision-making, particularly any deviations from AI recommendations. Similarly, it is imperative that surgical staff comprehend the ethical implications for patient privacy and confidentiality when AI is integrated within their service. As clinical AI systems are likely to require sensitive patient data, surgical staff must adequately inform patients, including risks such as misuse or data breaches.”

Privacy and ethics

As with most new technologies, with opportunities come limitations — especially issues related to data handling, privacy and ethics.

“AI is based on building models from lots and lots of data and ensuring that the data we feed into these algorithms are unbiased and are not perpetuating existing inequities in our datasets and our research is essential,” Varghese said.

So, it’s important to ensure that what is fed into the models and how they are trained is robust and achieving the best outcomes for our patients, Varghese noted.

“Surgeons may treat a specific patient population due to the location of their institution or specialised professional interests, and algorithms trained on datasets derived at a population level may perform suboptimally at a local level. Surgical services should be aware of potential biases in algorithms and limitations of training data and regularly audit AI-driven systems after local deployment,” wrote the authors of the research led by the University of Adelaide.

“Current malpractice guidelines will also need to be revised to reflect the use of AI, along with policies around the handling of sensitive patient data.”

The team led by the University of Adelaide recommends the development of infrastructure to monitor and audit AI tools to ensure they are benefiting both the patients and the system. Patients and surgical staff also need to be educated on the benefits and limitations of this technology, the researchers said. Below are their key recommendations:

• Understand and consider current opinions on AI held by the non-surgical healthcare communities and the wider society of Australia and New Zealand through serial evaluation.

• Maintain a strict evidence-based approach when developing and implementing AI tools within Australian and New Zealand surgical services that is adherent to internationally recognised frameworks but also considers local factors, regardless of the aspect of surgical care, and ensures risks and benefits to patients and systems are rigorously evaluated.

• Develop necessary infrastructure for strict post-implementation monitoring and audit of AI tools to ensure ongoing patient and system benefit, in alignment with the principles of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

• Ensure close and ongoing engagement with the regulatory bodies and laws of Australia and New Zealand

• Be aware of ethical risks associated with AI and take approaches that address these risks when implementing AI tools, such as ensuring data security.

• Efforts should be made to educate Australian and New Zealand surgical patients and staff on the use of AI, including its benefits and limitations.

• Produce guidelines specifically relating to the use of AI by surgical services within Australia and New Zealand.

• Promote broad collaboration between the surgical services of Australia and New Zealand to ensure safe AI use at a national scale.

Far-ultraviolet light

Could UV light protect against HAIs?

There are around 165,000 healthcare associated infections (HAIs)1 in Australian health facilities each year, making them the most common complication affecting patients in hospital.

Healthcare associated infections (HAIs) are a major public health challenge around the world with around seven out of every 100 patients in acute-care hospitals in highincome countries and 15 in low- and middleincome countries acquiring at least one such infection during their hospital stay.

This is according to data from the World Health Organisation that further suggests that on average, 1 in every 10 affected patients die from their HAI.

With the increasing burden of HAIs and antimicrobial resistance, efforts are being made at global, national and regional levels to improve infection prevention and control in hospital and health care facilities.

Limitations of the traditional approach

At this year’s ESCMID Global Congress — an annual congress that brings together experts and specialists working in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases — in Barcelona, Spain (27–30 April), Dr Curtis Donskey from the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, will discuss the new ultraviolet light air disinfection technology that could help protect against healthcare infections.

Airborne transmission of diseases such as COVID-19 and tuberculosis in public spaces has highlighted a clear need for improved technologies to limit their spread. Similarly, environmental contamination plays a key role in the spread of healthcare-associated infections, with pathogens such as

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridioides difï cile able to persist on surfaces, contributing to the spread of infections.

“Compounding the problem, and a major limitation of traditional cleaning and disinfection strategies, is that disinfected surfaces rapidly become re-contaminated between manual cleaning episodes,” Donskey said.

Ultraviolet light technologies

“Daily cleaning of patient rooms is likely to be inadequate to reduce the burden of infectious pathogens, and manual cleaning of intricate surfaces, equipment and devices makes thorough cleaning difficult. These limitations have led to the development of technologies that can provide continuous decontamination of occupied spaces between episodes of manual cleaning. The Holy Grail is a technology that is effective against surface and airborne pathogens and is automated, safe and reasonably priced.”

One of the most promising candidates is ultraviolet light technology. “It’s been known since the 1940s that ultraviolet light can kill bacteria and inactivate viruses in the air so that they are no longer infectious,” Donskey said. “Conventional UV light has been used widely in hospitals and prisons, but it can damage the skin and eyes, so it can only be used when a room is empty. Because re-contamination of rooms and surfaces is so quick, the goal has been to continuously decontaminate rooms with people in them.”

Far UV-C has a shorter wavelength (222 nm) than conventional germicidal UVC light (254 nm) and cannot penetrate or harm skin, eyes or tissue. Studies have shown that far-UVC light can kill the SARSCoV-2 virus, other human coronaviruses, influenza and drug-resistant bacteria quickly and efficiently. 2 And because of the way ultraviolet light kills microbes, viruses and bacteria, they cannot develop resistance as they do with vaccines and drug treatments. Additional tests in real-room environments have found that far UV-C reduced infectious airborne viruses by over 99% — much greater than is generally achieved using typical air filtration and ventilation.3

Beaming this far-UVC into an empty room could decontaminate the air and surfaces in healthcare settings, and as the wavelength of this UV is shorter than conventional UV light, it cannot penetrate or harm our skin, eyes or tissues, according to the researchers.

“Several studies have suggested that far UV-C light at the current regulatory limit may be safe for use around people, but more studies are needed to confirm the safety of these rays in clinical settings and with longer-term follow-up before it is likely that they will be routinely used in occupied healthcare settings,” Donskey cautioned.

“It is also vital that we assess ozone concentrations because far UV-C technologies have the potential to generate modest

amounts of ozone.” Based on the information currently available, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that in the nearterm, whole-room UV is best viewed as new and emerging technology. Nevertheless, far UV-C (222 nm) has emerged as a leading continuous decontamination technology with several commercial technologies currently being marketed. A few of the companies marketing far UV-C devices include Ushio (Care222 Filtered Far UV-C Excimer Lamp Module), Sterilray (GermBuster Channel), Lit Thinking (Visium) and Far UV Technologies.

Intermittent delivery

“Some early adopters have begun using these technologies in healthcare settings,” Donskey said.

“For example, a dental office in Ohio installed far UV-C lamps in five patient treatment rooms in 2020 and has operated the technology for thousands of hours with no reports of adverse effects. Partnering with such early adopters could be useful to acquire information on longterm safety of far UV-C.

“One novel approach that could accelerate earlier implementation of far UV-C in clinical settings would be its intermittent rather than continuous delivery. Such an approach would only deliver far UV-C when a room is empty and turns off when people are present. We are currently evaluating this intermittent approach for decontamination of equipment rooms, bathrooms, sinks and patient rooms. We anticipate that hospitals will be more willing to consider use of the technology in clinical areas using this approach while additional safety data is being generated,” he said.

1. Mitchell BG, Shaban RZ, MacBeth D, Wood CJ, Russo PL. The burden of healthcareassociated infection in Australian hospitals: a systematic review of the literature. Infection, Disease & Health. 2017 Sep 1;22(3):117-28.

2. Far-UVC light (222 nm) efficiently and safely inactivates airborne human coronaviruses | Scientific Reports (nature.com); Far-UVC light: A new tool to control the spread of airbornemediated microbial diseases | Scientific Reports (nature.com)

3. 222 nm far-UVC light markedly reduces the level of infectious airborne virus in an occupied room | Scientific Reports (nature.com)

WHO releases guidelines to reduce bloodstream infections from catheter use

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released the first global guidelines to prevent the occurrence of bloodstream and other infections caused by use of catheters placed in minor blood vessels during medical procedures.

Poor practices in the insertion, maintenance, and removal of these catheters carry a high risk of introducing germs directly into the bloodstream, which can lead to serious conditions such as sepsis, and difficult-to-treat complications in major organs like the brain and kidneys. Soft tissue infections at the insertion site of the catheter can also occur.

Up to 70% of all inpatients require the use of a catheter inserted into a peripheral vein or artery, also known as peripherally inserted catheters (PIVCs), at some point during their hospital stay.

People who receive treatments through catheters often are particularly vulnerable to infections, as they might be seriously ill or have low immunity. WHO estimated that between 2000–2018, average mortality among patients affected by healthcare-associated sepsis was 24.4%, increasing to 52.3% among patients treated in intensive care units.

Many bloodstream infections are caused by antibioticresistant bacterial infections. It is estimated that bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was directly responsible for at least 1.27 million deaths and contributed to an additional 4.95 million deaths in 2019.

“Infections associated with healthcare delivery represent a preventable tragedy and a serious threat to the quality and safety of health care,” said Dr Bruce Aylward, WHO Assistant Director-General for Universal Health Coverage, Life Course.

“Implementing clean care and infection prevention and control recommendations is critical to saving lives and alleviating a great deal of avoidable suffering experienced by people around the world,” Aylward said.

The new guidelines include 14 good-practice statements and 23 recommendations on key areas for health workers, including: education and training of health workers; techniques of asepsis and hand hygiene practices; insertion, maintenance, access and removal of catheters; and catheter selection.

collaboration with AI Improving physician–nurse

Stanford Hospital is using an AI-based model that predicts when a patient is declining and flags the patient’s physicians and nurses.

The alert system helps clinicians connect more efficiently and effectively as well as intervene to prevent patients from deteriorating and landing in the intensive care unit, said Ron Li, MD, a clinical associate professor of medicine and medical informatics director for digital health. Li is the senior author of the study by Stanford Medicine that shows the potential of AI as a facilitator of connection between doctors and nurses. In a news update with Stanford Medicine’s Hanae Armitage, Li shared details of the project and how it fosters connection in a ceaselessly buzzing hospital environment. Below are the highlights:

How does the model work?

The algorithm is a prediction model that pulls data — such as vital signs, information from electronic health records and lab results — in near-real time to predict whether a patient in the hospital is about to suffer a health decline.

Physicians aren’t able to monitor all of these data points for every patient all of the time, so the model runs in the background, looking at these values about every 15 minutes. It then uses artificial intelligence to calculate a risk score on the probability the patient is going to deteriorate, and if the patient seems like they might be declining, the model sends an alert to the care team.

How can it benefit hospitals?

This model is powered by AI, but the action it triggers, the intervention, is basically a conversation that otherwise may not have happened.

Nurses and physicians have conversations and handoffs when they change shifts, but it’s difficult to standardise these communication channels due to busy schedules and other hospital dynamics, Li said. The algorithm can help standardise it and draw clinicians’ attention to a patient who may need additional care. Once the alert comes into the nurse and physician simultaneously, it initiates a conversation about what the patient needs to ensure they don’t decline to the point of requiring a transfer to the ICU.

Implementation and evaluation

The model originally sent an alert when the patient was already deteriorating, so the researchers adjusted it to focus on predicting ICU transfers and other indicators of health decline. The aim was to ensure the nursing team was heavily involved and felt empowered to initiate conversations with physicians about adjusting a patient’s care.

When the tool — that had been running for almost 10,000 patients — was evaluated, there were significant improvements in clinical outcomes. There was a 10.4% decrease in deterioration events, defined by the researchers as transfers to the ICU, rapid response team events or codes — among a subset of 963 patients with risk scores within a “regression discontinuity window”, which basically means they’re at the cusp of being high risk. These are patients whose clinical trajectory may not be as obvious to the medical team. For that group of patients, this model was especially helpful for encouraging physicians and nurses to collaborate to determine which patients need extra tending.

Feedback from nurses and physicians

The reactions have overall been positive, but there is concern about alert fatigue, since not all alerts are flagging a real decline, the researchers suggested. When the model was validated on data from patients prior to implementation, the researchers calculated that about 20% of patients flagged by the model did end up experiencing a deterioration event within six to 18 hours. At this point, even though it’s not a completely accurate model, it’s accurate enough to warrant a conversation. It shows that the algorithm doesn’t have to be perfect for it to be effective.

The researchers are now working on improving accuracy to enhance trust. The study by Li; informatics postdoctoral scholar and lead author Robert Gallo, MD; Lisa Shieh, MD, PhD, clinical professor of medicine; Margaret Smith, director of operations for primary care and population health; and Jerri Westphal, nursing informatics manager, has been published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Originally published here.

In the complex world of healthcare, every minute counts, especially in the operating room. Surgical procedures require meticulous planning, seamless coordination, and the involvement of multiple stakeholders, from surgeons and nurses to administrative staff and suppliers. The effective management of the surgical logistics is critical to the overall success of a healthcare institution. Fortunately, modern technology has revolutionised the way we streamline surgical order management, reducing administrative burdens and improving coordination among all parties involved. Hospitals worldwide are grappling with the challenge of rising medical supply costs and to counter this financial strain, healthcare facilities are increasingly seeking innovative solutions. The healthcare supply chain presents a range of obstacles that contribute to these escalating costs.

A signi�icant issue within the healthcare supply chain is the lack of transparency and visibility, leading to situations of overstocking or understocking of vital medical supplies. These challenges result in avoidable waste and costly delays in patient care. Additionally, the fragmented nature of the supply chain, characterised by numerous suppliers, exacerbates inefficiencies and cost inflation. Lastly, the absence of standardised procedures and modern technologies for inventory management results in poor resource allocation and excessive spending.

To address these pressing challenges, a comprehensive overhaul of the healthcare supply chain management is urgently needed. An ideal system should streamline inventory management processes, optimise order placement, forecast demand, manage inventory levels efficiently, and enable timely procurement of supplies. The ultimate goal is to minimise waste and reduce costs, all while

Revolutionising Surgical Workflow and Logistics: Integration, Automation, and Collaboration

ensuring the availability of essential supplies when needed most.

This transformation isn’t just an option; it’s a critical step towards enhancing healthcare efficiency and cutting costs. By optimising order management, healthcare professionals can redirect their focus towards delivering exceptional patient care.

A key element of this revamped system is a communication platform like Surgical Order (SOx) that replaces laborious manual tasks and outdated methods. This platform facilitates seamless synchronisation among stakeholders, including surgeons, hospitals, and suppliers, thereby eliminating the need for manual inventory tracking. By integrating seamlessly with existing software and workflows, SOx is able to ease the transition and reduce the learning curve. Cutting-edge scanning technology capable of effortless barcode, QR code, and data matrix scanning can revolutionise the process, eliminating time-consuming manual entry and barcode creation tasks.

Furthermore, SOx empowers suppliers to offer personalised services to hospitals by providing real-time inventory data. This facilitates timely restocking when inventory levels dip below the minimum threshold and allows for the transfer of excess inventory between hospitals in case of supply chain delays and further reduce waste.

To add even more value, SOx encompasses automatic billing, an implant registry, and an intuitive analytics dashboard. Automatic billing streamlines the billing process, minimises errors, trims overhead costs, and prevents revenue leakage. The implant registry ensures full traceability of implants used in surgeries, enhancing inventory management and patient safety. The analytics dashboard offers insight into the

surgical order process, enabling data-driven decisions.

These advancements lead to enhanced efficiency, reduced overheads, and improved patient care.

For more information on how SOx can save your hospital time and money, visit surgicalorder.com or contact us at info@surgicalorder.com.

Hand hygiene without compromise

Josh Townley PhD, Senior Scientific Writer — Projects

Improving skin hydration as an outcome of good hand hygiene practice

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), proper hand hygiene is the single most effective action to stop the spread of infection.[1] But for many healthcare workers, hand hygiene compliance can mean washing their hands 20 times or more per day, and as Loh and Yew showed in a recent systematic review and meta-analysis, this carries an increased risk of Occupational Contact Dermatitis (OCD).[2]

New Aqium Moisturising Gel, containing 70 percent w/w ethanolabsolute, is clinically proven to kill germs without compromising skin hydration, pH or barrier integrity over repeated use.[3]

OCD is a common skin condition among healthcare workers, with symptoms including redness, itching, dryness, and cracking of the skin. [4] These symptoms can be caused or exacerbated by frequent hand washing and exposure to irritants such as harsh soaps or disinfectants.[5]

A 2014 survey of healthcare workers found a one-year prevalence of around 21 percent, which increased to 28 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic[6] and OCD accounts for 90-95 percent of all occupational skin disease.[7]

Given the critical role that healthcare workers play in patient care, it is vital to address this occupational hazard and provide evidence-based recommendations to minimise nosocomial transmission of infections, without compromising skin health.

While many different hand sanitiser formulations contain moisturising ingredients to offset the drying effect of alcohol, including the WHO hand rub formulations,[8] very few are backed up with clinical evidence that demonstrates their impact on the skin with repeated use.

A Dermal Tolerability Study using Aqium Moisturising Antibacterial Hand Gel was commissioned by Ego Pharmaceuticals under conditions that mimic typical use of disinfectant hand sanitisers by hospital staff — sanitising hands around 20 times per day over a period

of two weeks (n = 33). The test product was also used on one forearm, according to normal use conditions.

Skin hydration, Transepidermal Water Loss (TEWL) and skin pH were measured on Day 1 (baseline) and Day 15 (treated forearm only). Dermatological assessments were performed on both hands by a physician at baseline and at Day 15. Participants also completed a subjective questionnaire after two weeks (Day 15).

By measuring skin hydration and TEWL (forearm) at the start and end of the study, it was clear that Aqium Moisturising Antibacterial Hand Gel significantly improved skin hydration after two weeks of daily use. While TEWL also increased at the end of two weeks, the values were still in the range of normal healthy skin. Therefore, no negative impact on skin barrier was observed. Skin pH (forearm) was also unchanged by using the product — an important consideration, since some alcohol hand gels have been shown to disrupt skin pH,[9] and this can contribute to the development of OCD.[10]

OCD can have both personal and economic consequences for healthcare professionals including impaired quality of life and an inability to work.[11–13] For medical facilities, impacts include the costs of medical care and sick leave, lost productivity and in some cases, workers’ compensation claims.

Frequent application of Aqium Moisturising Antibacterial Hand Gel has been clinically proven to improve skin hydration overall. Aqium Moisturising Antibacterial Hand Gel has high clinical acceptance and no negative impacts on hand health.

Scan to try for yourself

For references visit: www.egopharm.com/aqium-references.

For more information visit: Ego Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd www.egopharm.com

What factors influence hospital staff retention?

Rather than applying a ‘one-size-fit s-all’ approach, staff retention efforts need to be tailored to age and profession, suggests a new study.

Age-related and contractual factors have been found to be stronger drivers of the UK’s National Health Service hospital clinical staff retention compared to organisational factors in a new study published in BMJ Open

Much better reward systems are needed to boost staff retention and ensure sustainability amid increasing demand for health care and an aging workforce, the authors suggest.

To explore the range of factors informing healthcare professionals’ desire to stay in a job, the researchers looked at the demographic, contractual and organisational factors, such as staff engagement and job satisfaction, associated with the retention of clinical staff working in acute and mental health care in NHS hospital trusts in England.

Why staff stays

The study included a total of 70,777 senior doctors, aged 30 to 70, and 448,568 nurses and midwives of all grades, aged 20 to 70, working in NHS hospitals in 2009–13 and in 2014–18. The researchers drew on staff survey responses and employment records to track their retention up until 2019–20.

Nearly a quarter (23%) of senior doctors in acute care hospitals held a part-time position, rising to almost a third (32%) in mental health trusts. The opposite held for nurses, with 38–41% of those working in acute care and 27–29% of those working in mental health holding a part-time post across both groups. Around 9% of doctors were employed under a fixed-term contract, while 3% were in temporary locum posts. But only 2% of nurses and midwives were in fixed-term posts.

Only around half of all clinical staff in the 2009 group were still working at the same trust 5 years later. This trend was especially noticeable among nursing staff.

In mental health trusts only 42% of nurses from the 2014 group worked in the same organisation for 5 years, compared with 54% in the 2009 group.

Senior doctors from ethnic minority backgrounds working in acute care were less likely to stay at the same trust than White senior doctors. Senior doctors from Europe or other parts of the world were also less likely to be retained within the same trust in both timeline groups.

Female nurses were more likely to stay at the same trust than male nurses. But in mental health trusts, the odds of female nurses and midwives staying in the same organisation fell sharply in the 2014 timeline group compared with the 2009 timeline group, both after 1 and 5 years.

Nurses of Asian ethnicity from the 2009 timeline group were almost 75% more likely to stay at the same hospital trust for five years than White nurses. But black nurses in the 2014 timeline group were less likely to remain at the same trust, both after 1 and 5 years.

International nurses from both timelines, on the other hand, were more likely to stay in the same trust, but only if they worked in acute care.

Part-time work was positively associated with nurse retention in both mental health and acute care, while working on a fixed-term contract decreased the odds of staying at the same trust for longer periods.

Demographics and contractual factors

The retention rate of senior doctors and nurses fell after the age of 50, both in terms of moving to other hospitals and leaving the NHS altogether.

In terms of potentially influential organisational factors, a higher engagement score on the NHS survey was strongly associated with the retention of nursing staff under the age of 51

Retention is lowest for younger and older staff, who are more mobile.

in both acute and mental health hospitals, and with the retention of senior doctors in this age group working in acute care.

Trust line managers who acted on staff feedback was the only other organisational factor strongly associated with retention after 1 year, but only for older nurses and midwives in acute care hospitals.

No other organisational factors emerged as significant other than understaffing in mental health hospitals, which was strongly associated with younger doctors leaving their posts.

This is an observational study, and as such, no firm conclusions can be drawn about causal factors, added to which the data don’t capture recent potentially highly influential events, including Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and recent industrial action, the researchers noted. Similarly, other factors, such as independent health and social care regulator Care Quality Commission (CQC) ratings and local housing costs weren’t included in the mix, but might also influence retention, they said.

“The study’s results reveal heterogeneous drivers of retention between occupations and care settings,” write the researchers, adding that the findings “underscore the importance of disaggregating retention challenges and solutions both by occupation and

specialisation rather than taking a one-sizefits-all approach.”

Part-time work, for example, seems to work well for nurses, possibly because it’s more flexible and suits those with care duties, but not for doctors, possibly because they consider it precarious and unfulfilling, the researchers said.

Mobility and retention

“Retention is lowest for younger and older staff, who are more mobile. Younger staff have lower opportunity costs to change jobs. Older staff retention is linked to retirement, as those who were 51+ have the highest rates of leaving the NHS,” they wrote.

“The NHS faces great challenges in retaining valuable staff amidst high turnover, ageing demographics and growing care demands. With doctor trainee retention rates plummeting over the past decade and over half of consultants anticipating early retirement, this analysis sounds the alarm on unsustainable workforce dynamics that may jeopardise NHS future functioning,” they noted.

“Demographic and contractual factors appear to be stronger predictors of hospital staff retention than organisational characteristics. The poor retention observed reinforces calls for healthcare organisations to develop more effective reward systems aimed at increasing staff retention,” the researchers concluded.

Immersive health care

Immersive technologies, in the form of virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR), have emerged as powerful tools to help improve a wide range of health outcomes. This is particularly true in recent years as the technology has developed at an accelerated pace, so both technologies are available in a single headset, and referred to as extended reality (XR). XR headsets have become autonomous whilst remaining versatile, lighter yet more powerful, more comfortable and more inclusive, opening up new possibilities in the healthcare sector.

From assisting with mental health challenges to supporting surgical procedures and boosting physical fitness, here are three ways immersive technologies are improving the landscape of healthcare delivery.

Surgical procedures

Immersive reality can be used as a powerful tool to support surgical training. VR headsets with precise movement tracking, in

combination with software that represents different surgical instruments held by the controller, can help medical students learn complex surgical techniques without the barriers caused by distance or the risk of live procedures. In fact, there are programs all over the world leveraging the power of immersive technology.

In the UK, University College London’s (UCL) work with ARuVR is setting an impressive standard to follow. Through virtual training, UCL has tripled the number of students able to view surgical procedures, while minimising patient risk and saving time and resources. In addition, the use of immersive technologies was found to help students develop skills faster and retain more knowledge.

Meanwhile, in the US, NYU Langone used immersive technology to help them achieve the highest survival rates in the country for neurology and neurosurgery procedures in 2022. VR enabled surgeons at NYU to

rehearse surgical procedures on accurate 3D models of patients’ brains, empowering them to collaborate with colleagues more easily to try different approaches and perfect their routine. Arguably the proof is in the outcomes, and NYU Langone has used immersive technology to make a significant positive difference and is now a top-ranked hospital for its niche.

In the near future, remote surgery will be entirely possible thanks to sophisticated robotics, fast internet and immersive headsets. This is especially useful for emergency scenarios as well as highspecialised procedures where experts may be physically distant from patients in need.

Mental health

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 43% of Australians have experienced a mental health disorder at some point in their life, and 17% of the Australian population experienced anxiety disorder

Thomas Dexmier, ANZ Country Manager at HTC VIVE

in the last 12 months alone. To combat mental health issues like stress, anxiety and depression, practitioners often recommend mindfulness practices such as breathing exercises, meditation and getting into nature. This is where immersive VR can assist.

There is a large cohort of Australians who find it difficult to meditate without guidance, and who cannot easily access the remedial benefits of face-to-face guided meditation or time spent in nature. But by using immersive technology and mindfulness apps such as AtOne, individuals can experience a multi-sensory approach to meditation and immerse themselves in peaceful environments, from serene forests to tranquil beaches.

Notably, bodies like the Australian Institute of Sports’s European Training Centre have already integrated apps like AtOne into their programs, and VR has also been used to support veterans and defence personnel, who

may be at higher risk for mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and PTSD. This is achieved through exposure therapy, which digitally transports them back to places they may have visited during the war so they can work through trauma.

Though these examples are compelling, the use cases for VR in supporting mental health are not limited to long-term mental illnesses. In fact, research has found that immersive virtual reality could be used as a distraction tool to reduce pain, anxiety and anger levels of emergency department patients, showcasing the versatility and efficacy of immersive technologies in treating psychological distress across a broad spectrum.

Physical fitness

People don’t often think of technology as an enabler of physical fitness, but there are definitely use cases. In 2023, HTC VIVE deployed a VIVE Focus 3 onboard the

International Space Station (ISS) to support with mental and physical health. To create a more engaging exercise experience, ESA astronaut and ISS Commander Andreas Mogensen has been using a FERGO exercise bike alongside a VR experience built by the Danish Aerospace Company.

Considering how immersive technologies are already being used across healthcare highlights their variety of use cases and benefits when it comes to improving patient outcomes. As headsets become smaller, lighter and more intuitive — while maintaining high resolution and high tracking accuracy — use cases for the technology will grow too, offering more possibilities for healthcare providers and patients. With countless use cases for XR in health care yet to be explored, we are yet to see the full extent of its potential. And I can’t wait to see the transformative impact it will have on patient care and health outcomes in the years to come.

High-risk LGAs for cardiac arrests

Australia has about 26,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests annually, with only 12% of patients treated by ambulance surviving to hospital discharge and/or 30 days.

Anew study led by Monash University has identified Australian regions with high incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) and low rates of bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

Funded by the Heart Foundation and conducted by the Australian Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium (Aus-ROC), the study is prompting calls for targeted education campaigns to improve awareness about avoiding and treating heart issues.

Cardiac arrest survival depended on a series of interventions known as the Chain of Survival, said senior author Professor Janet Bray, from Monash University’s School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, and Curtin University’s Prehospital, Resuscitation and Emergency Care Research Unit.

“Early bystander CPR is one of the most important of these interventions. Survival is doubled when cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is given by bystanders,” Bray said.

The research identified 60 high-risk LGAs with a total population of 1.17 million, mainly in New South Wales. They were typically in regional and remote areas, except for two in Adelaide and two in Perth.

High-risk LGAs were those with an incidence rate greater than its state or territory’s 75th percentile and a bystander CPR rate less than the state or territory’s 25th percentile, the researchers found. A total of 62,579 OHCA cases attended by ambulance across 543 LGAs nationwide were included.

Nationally, the OHCA incidence rate across LGAs ranged from 58.5 to 198.3 per 100,000 people, while bystander CPR rates ranged from 45% to 75%. Bray said the results showed that OHCA incidence and bystander CPR rates varied markedly across Australian LGAs, making targeted education campaigns in areas of high risk crucial.

Published in PLOS ONE, the retrospective, observational study used data from the Aus-ROC Australian and New Zealand OHCA Registry to map OHCA by local government area (LGA) from 2017 to 2019. It applied mathematical models and mapping techniques to estimate incidence and bystander CPR ability rates for witnessed events in each LGA.

Earlier Aus-ROC research with Ambulance Victoria found that Victorian regions with high rates of OHCA had populations with higher rates of cardiovascular risk factors such as being older, lower socioeconomic status and education levels, and higher smoking rates.

OHCA incidence fell during the Heart Foundation’s Warning Signs campaign for heart attacks, the researchers said, noting that this suggests that when people act quickly when having heart attack symptoms, such as chest pain, they can avert having a cardiac arrest.

“Whereas regions with higher bystander CPR had higher rates of CPR training,” Bray said.

“Ambulance Victoria and the Heart Foundation have since provided community education in these regions in their Heart Safe Community initiative.

“What this whole body of work shows us is that we can improve OHCA outcomes with public education and we can now target

public education in areas with the greatest need across the whole of Australia.

“Many of the high-risk regions are in regional and remote areas. We are currently completing research in NSW to explore community-based approaches which are best suited to improving OHCA outcomes in regional communities, and a pilot in Victoria teaching high school students how to save a life.”

While similar analysis has been conducted on regional OHCA variations across Queensland and Victoria, this is the first study to apply these methods across all Australian states and territories.

Organisations involved included Monash University, Curtin University, Queensland University of Technology, Auckland University of Technology, Queensland Ambulance Service, St John Western Australia, NSW Ambulance, Ambulance Victoria, SA Ambulance Service, St John Ambulance NT, ACT Ambulance and Ambulance Tasmania.

A Guide to Implementing Ergonomic Principles and Tools to Enhance Caregiver Wellness

Ergonomics, Efficiency and Ease

Comfort on the job starts with ergonomics: the science of designing the job to fit the worker and not the other way around, considering the furniture and equipment in the working environment. Three key elements must come together for ergonomic working, which we call the Ergonomic Equation. It explains how neutral posture, voluntary motion and rest time add up to working comfortably.

In a physically demanding job like nursing, ergonomics becomes even more critical to the work experience. Manual patient handling, long shifts, hours spent standing, and challenging work environments can lead to cumulative trauma disorders (CTDs) like carpal tunnel syndrome, lower back pain, and other musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs). Daily nursing work runs all these risks. This physical discomfort or pain can distract nurses and impact the care they provide.

But an ergonomic environment and tools can help mitigate these risk factors and help increase efficiency and satisfaction on the job. Ergonomic improvements can include customising both wall-mounted and mobile workstation desk heights for each worker, setting proper monitor viewing heights and distances from the viewer, and upgrading older workstations that aren’t designed to accommodate computer use.

Choosing and adapting the right equipment and workstations, and implementing workstyle changes that follow the Ergonomic Equation, can help decrease a nurse’s physical stress, reducing the chance of injury and mental toll on the job.

Identifying and Healing the Documentation Pain Points

Healthcare organisations can improve the nursing experience by tackling the most

time-consuming part of their shift: charting and documentation. Equipment that provides efficiency and comfort can help prevent injury and free up time from tedious, yet necessary tasks to care for patients.

Nurses themselves agree, with 95% of healthcare providers surveyed by Ergotron stating that having better, more ergonomic equipment could improve their health and well-being. By improving this workflow with ergonomic principles and equipment that address top documentation pain points, healthcare leaders can help enhance nurses’ physical and mental health.

Inefficient Workflows

Documentation at the point of care can help decrease inefficiencies, reduce the number of errors made and allow the nurse to stay by a patient’s bedside rather than leaving the room to complete a chart.

Current hospital designs and workstations don’t always support that type of workflow. Centralized charting and documentation stations outside the patient room impede a nurse’s ability to communicate with patients or keep them within their line of sight for monitoring. Many hospitals aren’t equipped with workstations in the patient’s room or mobile solutions,

Reach out to your local Ergotron representative Email: robin.burgess@ergotron.com Mobile +61 421 080 303

requiring a nurse to visit a centralized nursing station to perform those duties. This breaks the communication between patient and nurse while contributing to an increased likelihood of errors.

Ergonomic workstations at the point of care can solve these pain points. Easily adjustable workstations allow a nurse to sit or stand depending on their comfort and how they want to interact with the patient. Screens that can be repositioned give nurses the opportunity to look patients in the eye as they communicate while still having easy access to documentation.

‘Virtual’ biopsy

for skin cancer

A new imaging method may enable dermatologists to scan the skin with a non-invasive ‘virtual’ biopsy to determine if it contains any cancerous cells.

It may also allow surgeons trying to determine whether they have removed all of a breast tumour to eventually rely on an image captured during surgery rather than wait for a pathologist to process the excised tissue.

Developed by Stanford Medicine researchers, the method uses lasers to penetrate tissue and create a highresolution, three-dimensional reconstruction of the cells it contains.

From this virtual reconstruction, they can make cross-sectional images that mimic those generated by a standard biopsy, in which a sample of tissue is sliced into thin layers and placed on a slide to be examined under a microscope.

“We’ve not only created something that can replace the current gold-standard pathology slides for diagnosing many conditions, but we actually improved the resolution of these scans so much that we start to pick up information that would be extremely hard to see otherwise,” said Adam de la Zerda, PhD, an associate professor of structural biology and the senior author of the article describing the method.

Transforming diagnosis

The method was developed by Yonatan Winetraub, PhD, a former graduate student in the de la Zerda lab who now leads his own research lab at Stanford focusing in part on virtual biopsies.

“This has the potential to transform how we diagnose and monitor concerning skin lesions and diseases in the clinic,” said coauthor Kavita Sarin, MD, PhD, an associate professor of dermatology.

For nearly a decade, de la Zerda and his colleagues have been studying a different way of seeing inside the body, called optical coherence tomography (OCT). Typically used by ophthalmologists to image the back of the eye, OCT scans measure how lightwaves from a laser bounce off a tissue to create a rendering of its insides (similar to the way ultrasound uses soundwaves to visualise organs).

As de la Zerda and Winetraub enhanced the OCT scans so they would work in organs other than the eye — developing both new hardware to collect data and new processing methods — they needed a way to verify

the accuracy of their scans, so they sent the tissues they were scanning with OCT to pathologists to create H&E images.

“We kept improving and improving the quality of the image, letting us see smaller and smaller details of a tissue,” de la Zerda said. “And we realised the OCT images we were creating were really getting very similar to the H&Es in terms of what they could show.”

Artificial intelligence

The higher resolution of the OCT images opened the door to using the method to diagnose disease without producing H&Es. But de la Zerda and his colleagues thought clinicians would be more apt to use OCT if the images looked familiar.

“Every physician in a hospital is very much used to reading H&Es, and it was important to us that we translate OCT images into something that physicians were already comfortable with — rather than an entirely new type of image,” de la Zerda said.

Winetraub turned to artificial intelligence to help convert OCT scans into flat images resembling H&E slides.

For 199 skin biopsies collected at Stanford Hospital, Winetraub carried out an OCT scan before pathologists created H&E slices. He and his colleagues developed a way of putting molecular tags on the surface of the biopsies so they could be sure exactly where in the OCT scan each H&E slice came from. Then, Winetraub paired up 1005 of these H&E images with the corresponding OCT images and entered them into an artificial intelligence algorithm which could learn how to create accurate H&Es from the raw OCT data.

“The uniqueness of this work lies in the method we developed to align OCT and H&E image pairs, letting machine-learning algorithms train on real tissue sections and providing clinicians with more accurate virtual biopsies,” Winetraub said.

The researchers fine-tuned the AI program by showing it an additional 553 pairs of H&E and OCT images before testing it out on new OCT images. When three Stanford dermatologists analysed random assortments of true H&E images and those created from the OCT scans, they could detect cellular structures at a similar rate. Any number of H&E images can be created from a single OCT image, virtually slicing the three-dimensional reconstruction in any direction.

Toward non-invasive biopsies

When a dermatologist notices an unusual looking spot on a person’s skin, they currently have two options to determine if it poses a risk: wait and see whether it grows bigger or cut it off and send it to a pathologist for testing.

De la Zerda and Winetraub now see a third path — scanning a potentially cancerous mole with OCT and analysing the virtual H&E images.

“Imagine if we could give physicians the ability, right there in the room with the patient, to take out an OCT camera and — rather than slice the patient up in dozens of places — image the cells inside each mole,” de la Zerda said.

Featured Products

Keep up with the latest industry innovations

Single-use surgical drapes

The Mölnlycke BARRIER Universal ISCC* drapes and sets offer flexible surgical draping solutions that can be combined to meet most surgical needs.

They add sustainable improvements to the manufacturing process as the next step in reducing fossil-based CO2 emissions in the supply chain. The ISCC drapes offer the identical performance of the company’s non-ISCC equivalents; the difference is the use of bio-based materials that reduce the depletion of fossil oil and reduce CO2 emissions.

The drapes are impermeable and absorbent with adhesive edges. The critical areas, closest to the wound, are reinforced with a stronger, more absorbent material. All foldings are designed for optimal aseptic handling and easy application.

The company’s ISCC certified surgical drapes mark the next big step in the long journey towards actively minimising environmental footprint. Gradually reducing fossil-based CO2 emissions in the supply chain and production means being able to maintain full traceability and accounting for the volume of non-fossil-based material that has been put into the system.

*International Sustainability & Carbon Certification. ISCC’s mission is to protect forests, high-carbon stock lands and biodiversity, enable waste utilisation and increase traceability.

Molnlycke Health Care www.molnlycke.com

Fenestrated drape

The Task Medical fenestrated drape from Constar is suitable for surgical and therapeutic procedures and to help protect patients and medical staff from bacterial transfer.

Features include: peel pack; antistatic; 4-ply poly-lined; individually sterile packed; folded easy-to-use design; 10 cm diameter fenestration; non-woven fabric; single-use; EO sterilised.

Constar Pty Ltd www.constar.com.au

Operating table

The Mindray V9 operating table is designed to adapt to all specialties and procedures and provide the highest level of surgical positioning and access.

The table comes with an extreme weight capacity of up to 570 kg. The modular design of the tabletop is tailored for various surgical specialties and positioning needs, providing flexibility and compatibility across the table fleet.

Key features of the table include: longitudinal shift up to 480 mm for extended intraoperative imaging access; variable height ranges from 595 to 1950 mm for enhanced surgical site access and surgeon comfort; and intelligent collision protection to prevent unsafe movements and damage to the operating table elements.

The table allows for 20 electric movements, including powered body elevator, individually adjustable leg sections and E-drive function for self-propulsion, and features wireless hand control with full table control, colour LCD display for table movement telemetry and triple-layer decompression pad to distribute patient weight, retain body heat and reduce decubitus injury.

Hospital Products Australia www.hpaust.com

Featured Products

Patient experience solution

The Five Faces DX5 Framework technology and Digital Front Door solution have received a major upgrade to support hospitals and health providers bring digital experiences in line with other industries.

The DX5 Framework is modern, low-code technology that facilitates digitisation of complex patient journeys. It is designed to provide consistent, seamless and modern digital experiences across many different touchpoints.

It is the underlying technology behind all Five Faces’ patient experience solutions. For example, the Digital Front Door solution enables patients to confirm and change appointments, ask questions, receive reminders and preparation advice, check in and join digital queues, complete digital forms, update details and preferences, access information and more.

The upgrade delivers a new user interface, end-client configurability and a platform approach.

It allows patients to access a secure web application in their browser, which is fully accessible and WCAG 2.1 AA compliant and provides easy multilingual translation. Employees use a consistent administration portal across all solutions, which simplifies managing complex patient journeys.

The DX5 Framework’s broad capabilities aim to solve many patient pain points across the healthcare system, while customising them to the needs of each site, department, model of care and clinic. Solutions include Digital Front Door, Queue Management, Visitor Management, Smart Forms and Digital Signage.

Five Faces fivefaces.com.au

Compostable masks

Designed in Australia by an Australian health care worker, the Eco Defend masks are said to break down within 180 days.

The masks are designed to offer the same level of protection as the blue face masks, are micro plastic-free and every bit of the masks is compostable, including the nose piece and the elastic straps. They also come with anti-fog foam for those who wear glasses.

Ecodefend www.ecodefend.com.au

Featured Products

Medical masks

Detmold Medical’s new range of Tri-Panel respirators and Level 3 Surgical Visor Masks is designed to offer wearers extra protection, comfort and more effective fit.

The Level 3 Surgical Visor masks features ear loops and head ties. It comes with pleated L3 surgical mask attachment ties for a secure fit, as well as an integrated anti-glare visor that has undergone fog treatment. The clear visors have also been designed to attach to the masks, allowing glasses to be worn underneath without impacting efficacy.

The Detmold Medical Level 3 Surgical Visor mask has been designed as a non-sterile disposable mask for use in the healthcare, aged care and dental industries.

The Tri-Panel respirator range includes a Level 3 N95 surgical Respirator, a P2 N95 Medical Respirator and a Class P2 Particulate Respirator, having been designed to improve comfort and deliver high performance for breathability, targeting the healthcare and industrial sectors.

The Tri-Panel respirators are single-use, non-sterile respiratory devices designed to provide high level of protection — the L3 N95 Surgical Respirator (ARTG 438510), with red headbands, has been engineered to deliver protection against high-intensity fluid sprays while providing protection against non-oil-based airborne particulates and bacteria; the P2 N95 Medical Respirator (ARTG 439074), with blue headbands, provides comfort and high breathability, filtering out non-oil-based airborne particulates and bacteria; and the Class P2 Particulate Respirator (ARTG 439074), with grey headbands, has been specifically engineered to filter out more than 95% of airborne particles including dust, smoke and mist while being comfortable to wear and secure.

Detmold Medical Pty Ltd

Antiseptic hand rub

The Skinman Soft Protect is Ecolab’s TGA-registered broad spectrum alcohol surgical and hygienic hand rub for use in clinical settings.

The product contains 90% w/w Ethanol in a water clear solution with emollient and is an antiseptic hand rub specifically formulated for surgical hand disinfection (EN12791).

Skinman Soft Protect’s skin-friendly formulation has been developed with ingredients for skin compatibility, including vitamin E, nourishing glycerine and regenerative panthenol. Its hypoallergenic formula is dye- and colour-free and does not contain chlorhexidine.

The product supports: a wide array of dispenser options and accessories along with signage and education material; current WHO and ACORN guidelines which recommend the use of alcohol based formulations for pre-operative hand preparation given their superior antimicrobial efficacy; reduced application time — a 90-second rub with Skinman Soft Protect complies with the requirements of EN12791.

Those interested can contact Ecolab Healthcare to arrange a product trial and an education session.

Ecolab Pty Ltd www.ecolab.com

Surgical logistics platform

SOx has developed an intuitive platform improving the surgical workflow and communication between surgeons, hospitals and suppliers with an aim to tackle the challenges of a disconnected ecosystem. The company provides a streamlined workflow for a more efficient patient turnover in operating rooms. SOx optimises theatre preparation, resource allocation and patient data management, allowing nurses to accommodate additional surgical cases. This could not only benefit the hospitals’ bottom line but also reduce patients’ wait times. SOx also assists with better resource management within theatres. Through improved communication and optimised staffing levels, the need for agency staff is minimised, reducing the operational costs for the facility. For some users, SOx has provided staff with enhanced training opportunities. Through SOx, nursing staff members have been able to reclaim time to engage in professional development, ultimately elevating the standard of care provided. Investing in SOx could lead to a positive work environment and higher job satisfaction, and result in higher staff retention rates.

Surgical Order surgicalorder.com

Ampcontrol

ampcontrolgroup.com

Ampcontrol is a privately owned electrical engineering company involved in advanced global manufacturing of award-winning innovations, products, solutions and service to the resources, infrastructure and energy sectors.

AMT Group Australasia

www.amtintlgroup.com.au

AMT Group Australasia provides a full range of products to service operating theatres, central sterile supply departments (CSSDs), endoscopy and pharmaceutical organisations. The company’s core products are geared towards operator safety, patient safety and samples from airborne and surface contaminants. AMT is NATA accredited to test and validate operating theatres.

ASSA ABLOY Entrance Systems

www.assaabloyentrance.com.au

The ASSA ABLOY Group is the global provider of access solutions. ASSA ABLOY Entrance Systems provides solutions for efficient and safe flow of goods and people. The offering includes a wide range of automated pedestrian, industrial and residential doors, loading dock equipment and services.

Biosafety International

www.biosafety.com.au

Biosafety International provides high-level biological safety consulting, HVAC and services to various controlled environments, including the healthcare and scientific sectors. The company specialises in contamination control,

biological safety consulting and decontamination services with over 20 years of qualified experience.

Blue Mirror

www.bluemirror.ai

Blue Mirror is a virtual PPE trainer on a tablet/device. It teaches end users PPE donning and doffing with real-time corrective actions and audio/visual guides. Users have access to a fun, interactive training experience that is easy to implement, audit and scale across the entire organisation.

C.R.Kennedy

medical.crkennedy.com.au/

C.R. Kennedy is an Australian importer and distributor of medical equipment with over 35 years’ experience in specialised knowledge and exceptional customer service. The company has branch offices in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

Condair Pty Ltd

www.condair.com.au

Condair is a manufacturer of commercial and industrial humidification and evaporative cooling products and systems. The company’s energy-efficient, hygienic solutions are designed to incorporate innovative features with an aim to deliver high performance and minimise maintenance.

Constar Pty Ltd

www.constar.com.au

Constar’s mission and commitment is to offer the highest quality, competitively priced, medical holloware, consumables products and clinical furniture available within hospitals, surgeries and clinics throughout Australia.

Coregas

www.coregas.com.au

Coregas is a provider of industrial, medical and specialty gases in Australia and New Zealand. With over 45 years of experience, the company offers a comprehensive range of gas solutions to a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, health care, hospitality and more.

Defries Industries

www.defries.com.au

Defries Industries is an Australianowned company that designs, develops and supplies quality singleuse medical and surgical products.

The specialties include procedure packs, surgical drapes, clinical protective apparel, theatre consumables, disposable bowls, wound care and surgical dressings.

Detmold Medical

www.detmoldmedical.com

Detmold Medical manufactures highquality PPE for the healthcare sector, leveraging expertise, global networks and systems from the Detmold Group.

The company’s Australian-made masks were designed in collaboration with industry experts and are certified to all relevant standards.

Draeger Australia

www.draeger.com/en_aunz/ Hospital/Operating-Room

Draeger Australia envisions a future of acute care where medical devices are connected as a system and are interacting with one another in a safe and secure environment. The company’s medical products include anaesthesia workstations, ventilation equipment for intensive and neonatal care and patient monitoring equipment.

Ecodefend

www.ecodefend.com.au

Ecodefend offers TGA approved, 100% fully compostable face masks. Designed in Australia by an Australian healthcare worker, the masks are comfortable and safe for the wearer. They are said to take 180 days to break down leaving zero trace, meaning no micro plastics.

Ecolab Healthcare ANZ

healthcare-au.ecolab.com

Ecolab Healthcare ANZ provides specialised solutions across key areas of infection control. The company supplies a wide range of hand hygiene products and surgical rubs that have been carefully developed to provide rapid disinfection for frequent use by health professionals in hospital and day surgeries.

ELGi Equipments

www.elgi.com.au

ELGi Equipments is an air compressor manufacturer with an extensive range of oil-free rotary screw compressors. Suitable for hospital applications, the company delivers compressed air free of contamination and particles, providing Class ‘0’ oil-free air as per ISO: 8573-1.

Essity

www.essity.com.au

Essity is a global hygiene and health company with renowned brands such as Leukomed, Cutimed, JOBST, Actimove and Swann-Morton. The company’s range of post-surgical wound dressings from Leukoplast can help minimise the risk of surgical site infections (SSI) and protect surgical results from surgical site complications. The company’s Tork product range is designed to help users improve hygiene standards

and cleaning efficiency and maintain infection prevention and hygiene compliance within the hospital.

Eucalip Bio-Chemical Group Pty Ltd

www.eucalip.com

Eucalip has been supplying economical, effective hard surface infection control products to Australian and overseas markets for 30 years. Formed and incorporated in 1986 in Victoria, Australia, the company continues to manufacture and distribute a wide range of biochemical products.

Flowsell

www.flowsell.com.au

Flowsell is an Australian supplier of hospital storage equipment and storage shelving. With two decades of experience in the industry, the company supplies solutions that meet industry requirements in an efficient manner.

Fujifilm Sonosite

www.sonosite.com/au

FUJIFILM Sonosite, Inc. is a provider of point-of-care ultrasound solutions to meet different imaging requirements. Sonosite is said to have earned worldwide recognition for its innovative product line, educational programs and advocacy for ultrasound’s many benefits.

Galvin Engineering

www.galvinengineering.com.au/

For four generations Australian manufacturer Galvin Engineering has been offering safe hands-free water solutions for hospitals, including

surgical scrub rooms. Designed to address challenges such as bacterial spread, scalding and regulatory compliance, the CliniMix range offers safety and convenience in high-risk environments.

Getinge Australia Pty Ltd

www.getinge.com/anz

With a firm belief that saving lives is the greatest job in the world, Getinge provides hospitals with products and solutions aiming to improve clinical results and optimise workflows. The offering includes products and solutions for intensive care, cardiovascular procedures, operating rooms and sterile reprocessing.

GripSox

www.gripsox.com

GripSox is a falls prevention company providing non-slip safety socks. Designed by Australian physio Luke Goodwin, GripSox assist hospitals to reduce their falls rates. REDuce Falls Sox highlight those at risk of falls, whilst GripSox Stretch Top socks add comfort for patients with oedema.

H E Technical Services Pty Ltd

www.het.com.au

H.E. Technical supports medical lighting needs of facilities across Australia, with quality medical and surgical lights. The company provides technical sales and after-sales support and treats the sale of all lights equally whether it be examination, procedure or theatre lights.

Haines Medical Australia

www.hainesmedical.com.au

Haines Medical Australia is an Australian-owned company,

supporting infection prevention, safe patient handling and environmental sustainability in healthcare settings, from hospital to home. The company has been supplying healthcare solutions to the Australian market since 1974.

Heaton Instrumedics

Pty Ltd

www.himed.com.au

Heaton Instrumedics provides simple, innovative and cost-effective solutions to central sterile services departments (CSSD) and operating rooms (OR) across Australia.

Hills Health

www.hillshealthsolutions.com.au

Hills Health delivers innovation across the care journey from IP-based nurse call, personalised patient engagement systems such as the innovative GetWell network. As well as Extensia, the community shared record platform connects individuals, their family and clinicians with the information they need.

Hipac Healthcare

www.hipac.com.au

Hipac sources, manufactures and distributes solutions, operating theatres and specialty theatre spaces. The company’s products and services are designed to empower healthcare professionals to excel and deliver the best possible outcome for their patients.

HPA

hpaust.com

HPA provides solutions that support medical staff to save and enhance lives. The company works with

clients to advise, supply and manage all the equipment needed to care for patients – ICT and carts, patient monitoring and life support, surgical solutions and infrastructure.

Humanetix

www.humanetix.com.au

Humanetix is a health tech company that has received government funding to support its product capability and development. The company’s globally patented intelligent clinical care delivery platform has been supporting the Australian healthcare market, providing clinical management and systems that enhance efficiency and improve patient care.

In Vitro Technologies

infectioncontrol.invitro.com.au

In Vitro Technologies is an Australian infection control solutions provider with an experienced sales team and services engineers across Australia. The company facilitates all areas of the sterile services, operating suite and endoscopy departments for infection control requirements. The company’s product range includes detergents with quality assurance tests, washer disinfectors, ultrasonic cleaning devices, sterilisers and sterilising consumables.

INOVA Air Purifiers

inovaairpurifiers.com.au

INOVA Air Purifiers is committed to improving indoor air quality by building quality air purifiers. The company’s air purifiers are designed for use in clinical environments including hospitals, healthcare facilities, waiting rooms and dental surgeries, and are specifically designed to remove aerosol-based viral and bacterial contaminants.

Interworld Electronics

www.ieci.com.au

Founded in 1989, Interworld Electronics offers a wide range of industrial PC solutions, including an extensive range of medical keyboards and pointing devices. The company has experience to be able to provide customers with quality products and expert advice based on an ever-changing industry.

IntraSpace

www.intraspace.com.au

IntraSpace is a healthcare and education storage specialist and the company knows maximum efficiency can only be obtained when storage is seriously considered as an integral part of the planning process. The company provides furniture and storage fit-outs for the health, education and government sectors.

ISSA International Sanitary Supply Association

issacleaninghygieneexpo.com

The International Sanitary Supply Association is a trade association for the cleaning industry worldwide. The ISSA Cleaning & Hygiene Expo is a dedicated cleaning and hygiene event that will be held from 1–2 November 2023 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC).

Kaeser Compressors Australia Pty Ltd

au.kaeser.com

Kaeser Compressors offers a comprehensive selection of compressed air system products that remain proudly manufactured in Germany, including oil-free rotary screw compressors, Mobilair portable compressors, vacuum packages, filters and related products.

MEDELEQ PTY LTD

www.medeleq.com.au

Medeleq Pty Ltd supplies medical equipment to health care in Australia. The company’s products include the VacSax antimicrobial disposable suction liner system, patient monitoring, suction units, wire baskets and shelving, stainless steel trolleys, modular carts and Cherokee uniforms. All products are TGA approved and the company holds QA status.

Medifit Design & Construct

medifit.com.au

Over the past 21 years, Medifit has designed and built over 700 healthcare facilities throughout Australia including day hospitals. The company operates exclusively in the healthcare space in all major cities including regional areas.

Medilogic

medilogic.com.au

Medilogic is dedicated to bringing the most advanced medical technologies from across the globe into the hands of medical professionals. Medilogic partners closely with hundreds of leading manufacturers and supply partners, enabling the company to provide efficient and competitive medical supplies solutions.

Mi-tec Medical

www.mitec.com.au

Mi-tec Medical Publishing produces quality, peer-reviewed patient education pamphlets for 21 medical colleges, societies and associations in Australia and New Zealand. The objectives of the pamphlets

is to reduce medico-legal risk by assisting the informed consent process and improving doctor–patient communication.

Mun Australia Pty Ltd

munglobal.com.au

Focused on high-quality caregiving for all, Mun is the global platform for premium personal protective equipment (PPE) products across many markets. The company has knowledge, expertise and experience gained from developing many forward-thinking products in the healthcare industry.

Nanosonics

www.nanosonics.com.au

Nanosonics is an Australian infection prevention company that has successfully developed and commercialised a unique automated disinfection technology, the trophon

device. The development is said to represent a major innovation in “high level disinfection for ultrasound probes”.

NHP Electrical Engineering Products

nhp.com.au

NHP is an Australian-owned company specialising in electrical products and services. The company has smart panelboards with transfer switches featuring a ‘bypass’ function, ensuring the continuity of a hospital’s power supply during maintenance and test operations, emergency/exit lighting and EV charging and load management solutions.

PENTAX Medical ANZ

PENTAX Medical is a division of HOYA Group delivering

endoscopy-imaging solutions. Established in 1919 in Japan, PENTAX Medical is a globally diversified company providing advanced clinically relevant endoimaging solutions

Personify Care

personifycare.com

Personify Care believes people deserve the best possible care, even when they are not in the hospital or clinic. The company provides software that helps healthcare teams reach patients when they need it most, by digitising perioperative pathways and ensuring that patients arrive on time, educated and prepared for surgery.

Price Holyoake

www.holyoake.com

Price Holyoake’s critical environments range of products are innovative,

quality, contaminant removal goods that along with service and support make Holyoake by Price a suitable choice for healthcare air distribution applications.

RFID Discovery

www.rfiddiscovery.com

RFID Discovery provides tracking solutions, connecting billions of healthcare items that allow hospital and healthcare staff to use RFID technology to identify, locate, authenticate and engage with each item and deliver the best possible patient care while reducing costs.

Rubbermaid Commercial Products

www.rubbermaidcommercial. com.au

Rubbermaid Commercial Products provides products and solutions for managing waste, cleaning and hygiene needs across a range of industries, including hospitals and aged care. The company has pioneered technologies and system solutions in the categories of cleaning, waste handling, material transport, food services, sanitary maintenance and safety products.

Softlogic Australia

Pty Ltd.

www.softlogic.com.au

Softlogic is a provider of software solutions for the health, hospital, aged care services and foodservices sectors. The company offers menu management systems, food audit systems and IoT-based temperature monitoring systems.

Steri-7 Pty Ltd

www.steri-7.com.au

Steri-7, a privately owned and run Australian company, is the exclusive

distributor of S-7XTRA cleaner disinfectant wipes and solutions.

STERIS Australia

www.steris.com/healthcare

STERIS is a global provider of products and services that support patient care with an emphasis on infection prevention.

The company’s offering, ranging from surgical equipment, OR technology and procedural surgical instruments and repair services, aims to give users the freedom to focus on providing best care to patients.

Sterri-Matt Pty Ltd

www.sterrimatt.com

Sterri-Matt is an Australian infection control and development company. Sterri-Matt PPE stations designed in Australia are claimed to be the largest PPE station range with the mobile PPE station suitable for donning/doffing while achieving compliance.

Whiteley

www.whiteley.com.au

With over 90 years of experience, Whiteley is committed to creating safer, cleaner healthcare environments. The company is a global innovator of medical infection prevention and professional hygiene solutions.

“Best practice” are two words the company takes seriously. Because in the field of cleaning and infection control, best practice saves lives and livelihoods. And given how pathogens spread and mutate so easily, improving infection prevention processes has never been more important.

Abdominoplasty

– Mi-tec Medical Publishing

Ablation systems

– Coregas

ABP monitoring device

– Getinge Australia Pty Ltd

AED defibrillator

– HPA

– Medilogic

Anesthesia machine

– Draeger Australia

– Getinge Australia Pty Ltd

HPA

Blood gas analyser

– Coregas

Blood glucose monitor

Medilogic

Blood pressure cuff

– Medilogic

Cannula

– Constar Pty Ltd

– Coregas

– Medilogic

Chairs

– Constar Pty Ltd

– HPA

– IntraSpace

– Medilogic

Cleaning

– AMT Group Australasia

– Biosafety International

– C.R.Kennedy

– Constar Pty Ltd

– Eucalip Bio-Chemical Group Pty Ltd

– Getinge Australia Pty Ltd

– Haines Medical Australia

– In Vitro Technologies

– ISSA International Sanitary Supply Association

– Medilogic

– Nanosonics

– Price Holyoake

– Rubbermaid Commercial Products

– Whiteley

Couches

– Constar Pty Ltd

– Medilogic

Cutting and dissecting

– C.R.Kennedy

– Medilogic

Dental air compressor

– Kaeser Compressors Australia Pty Ltd

Dental instruments

– Defries Industries

Dental light

– H E Technical Services Pty Ltd

– Hipac Healthcare

– Price Holyoake

Dental suction unit

– MEDELEQ PTY LTD

Detergent

– Ecolab Healthcare ANZ

– Getinge Australia Pty Ltd

– In Vitro Technologies

– ISSA International Sanitary Supply Association

– Medilogic

– Sterri-Matt Pty Ltd

– Whiteley

Dilators

– Medilogic

Disinfectant

– AMT Group Australasia

– Biosafety International

– Constar Pty Ltd

– Ecolab Healthcare ANZ

– Eucalip Bio-Chemical Group Pty Ltd

– In Vitro Technologies

– ISSA International Sanitary Supply Association

– Medilogic

– Nanosonics

– Steri-7 Pty Ltd

– Sterri-Matt Pty Ltd

– Whiteley

Disposables

– Constar Pty Ltd

– Essity

– Haines Medical Australia

– Hipac Healthcare

– Medilogic

– Mun Australia Pty Ltd

– Rubbermaid Commercial

Products

– Steri-7 Pty Ltd

– STERIS Australia

Ear syringes

– Medilogic

ECG cables

– Medilogic

ECG paper

– Medilogic

Electrodes

– Constar Pty Ltd

– Medilogic

Electrosurgical hardware

– Medilogic

Electrosurgical instruments

– Medilogic

Electronics and technology

– Medilogic

– Hills Health – Humanetix

Personify Care

RFID Discovery – Softlogic Australia Pty Ltd.

Energy systems

– Ampcontrol – Condair Pty Ltd

– NHP Electrical Engineering Products

Equipment and solutions

– ELGi Equipments

– Flowsell

– Fujifilm Sonosite

– GripSox

– Heaton Instrumedics Pty Ltd

– INOVA Air Purifiers

– Interworld Electronics

– Medifit Design & Construct

Furniture

– Constar Pty Ltd

– Hipac Healthcare

– IntraSpace

– MEDELEQ PTY LTD

– Medilogic

Gas/suction systems

– C.R.Kennedy – Coregas

Gel and gel sheets

– Constar Pty Ltd

– Hipac Healthcare

Grasping

– C.R.Kennedy

Hemostatic instruments

– C.R.Kennedy

– Medilogic

Hooks and probes

– Medilogic

Hoses and syringes

– Constar Pty Ltd

– Medilogic

Infection control – AMT Group Australasia

– ASSA ABLOY Entrance Systems

– Biosafety International

– Blue Mirror

– Constar Pty Ltd

– Ecodefend

– Essity

– Eucalip Bio-Chemical Group Pty Ltd

– Galvin Engineering

– Getinge Australia Pty Ltd – Haines Medical Australia

– Hipac Healthcare

– ISSA International Sanitary Supply Association – Medilogic – Mi-tec Medical Publishing

– Nanosonics

– Price Holyoake –

Rubbermaid Commercial Products – Steri-7 Pty Ltd

– Sterri-Matt Pty Ltd

– Whiteley

IV Solutions

– Medilogic

Knives – Medilogic

Lamps, headlight and loupe

– H E Technical Services Pty Ltd

Lights

– Draeger Australia

– Getinge Australia Pty Ltd

– H E Technical Services Pty Ltd

– Hipac Healthcare

– HPA

– Medilogic

– Price Holyoake

– STERIS Australia

Medical plastic

– Constar Pty Ltd

– Medilogic

Monitoring

– AMT Group Australasia

– C.R.Kennedy

– Draeger Australia

– Galvin Engineering

– Getinge Australia Pty Ltd

– HPA

– MEDELEQ PTY LTD

– Medilogic

– NHP Electrical Engineering Products

– Price Holyoake

Needles and needle holders

– Defries Industries

– Medilogic

Plaster instruments

– Medilogic

PPE

– Blue Mirror

– Constar Pty Ltd

– Defries Industries

– Detmold Medical

– Ecodefend

– Haines Medical Australia

– Medilogic

– Mun Australia Pty Ltd

– Price Holyoake

– Rubbermaid Commercial Products

– Sterri-Matt Pty Ltd

Recovery room equipment

– Coregas

– Galvin Engineering

– HPA

– MEDELEQ PTY LTD

– Medilogic

– Price Holyoake

Retractors

– Defries Industries

– Medilogic

Rhinoplasty

– Medilogic

– Mi-tec Medical Publishing

Robotic systems and equipment

– Getinge Australia Pty Ltd

Smoke evacuation systems

– Medilogic

– Price Holyoake

Specialty equipment

– AMT Group Australasia

– Condair Pty Ltd

– Coregas

– H E Technical Services Pty Ltd

– Hipac Healthcare

– Medilogic

– Nanosonics

– PENTAX Medical ANZ

– Price Holyoake

– STERIS Australia

Sphygmomanometer

– MEDELEQ PTY LTD

– Medilogic

Staplers and clips

– Medilogic

Sterilisers

– AMT Group Australasia

– Getinge Australia Pty Ltd

– Hipac Healthcare

– ISSA International Sanitary

Supply Association

– Medilogic

– Whiteley

Stools

– Constar Pty Ltd

– Hipac Healthcare – Medilogic

Stress testing equipment

– Medilogic

Suction

– Coregas

– MEDELEQ PTY LTD

– Medilogic

Surgical console

– C.R.Kennedy

Surgical spoons

– C.R.Kennedy

Surgical towers/boom

– C.R.Kennedy

– Hipac Healthcare – HPA – STERIS Australia

Tables

– Constar Pty Ltd

– Getinge Australia Pty Ltd

– Hipac Healthcare – HPA – Medilogic

– STERIS Australia

Trays and racks

– Constar Pty Ltd – Hipac Healthcare

– IntraSpace

– Medilogic

– Sterri-Matt Pty Ltd

Trolleys

– AMT Group Australasia

– C.R.Kennedy

– Constar Pty Ltd

– Coregas

– Getinge Australia Pty Ltd

– Hipac Healthcare – HPA

– IntraSpace

– MEDELEQ PTY LTD

– Medilogic

– Rubbermaid Commercial Products

– Sterri-Matt Pty Ltd

Tubing

– C.R.Kennedy

– Coregas – HPA

– Medilogic

Vacuum pumps

– Medilogic

More than 420,000 Australians are estimated to suffer from a chronic wound each year, costing the health and aged care system a total of $3bn.

Globally, over 540 million people worldwide are living with diabetes, of which 30% develop a foot ulcer during their lifetime. The cost of managing chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers already exceeds $US17 billion annually, and with rise in obesity cases and lack of exercise, this number is expected to increase in coming decades, according to the University of South Australia (UniSA).

Now, a team of international scientists, led by UniSA physicist Dr Endre Szili, has developed new treatment for chronic wounds that does not involve antibiotics or silverbased dressings, but an ionised gas called plasma. It involves boosting the plasma activation of hydrogel dressings with a unique mix of different chemical oxidants that decontaminate and help heal chronic wounds.

The study, published in Advanced Functional Materials, describes the new method as “a significant breakthrough” that could revolutionise the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers, internal wounds and potentially cancerous tumours.

“Antibiotics and silver dressings are commonly used to treat chronic wounds, but both have drawbacks. Growing resistance to antibiotics is a global challenge and there are also major concerns over silver-induced toxicity. In Europe, silver dressings are being phased out for this reason,” Szili said.

The benefits of cold plasma ionised gas have already been proven in clinical trials, showing it controls not only infection but also stimulates healing — this is due to the potent chemical cocktail of oxidants, namely reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) it produces when it mixes and activates the oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the ambient air, the researchers suggested.

Szili and his colleagues have shown that plasma activating hydrogel dressings with RONS makes the gel far more powerful, killing common bacteria. Although diabetic foot ulcers were the focus of this study, the technology could be applied to all chronic wounds and internal infections.

“Despite recent encouraging results in the use of plasma activated hydrogel therapy (PAHT), we faced the challenge of loading hydrogels with sufficient concentrations of RONS required for clinical use. We have overcome this hurdle by employing a new electrochemical method that enhances the hydrogel activation,” Szili said.

As well as killing common bacteria (E. coli and P. aeruginosa) that cause wounds to become infected, the researchers said that the plasma

for chronic wounds Plasma treatment

activated hydrogels might also help trigger the body’s immune system, which can help fight infections.

“Chronic wound infections are a silent pandemic threatening to become a global healthcare crisis. It is imperative that we find alternative treatments to antibiotics and silver dressings because when these treatments don’t work, amputations often occur,” Szili said.

“A major advantage of our PAHT technology is that it can be used for treating all wounds. It is an environmentally safe treatment that uses the natural components in air and water to

make its active ingredients, which degrade to non-toxic and biocompatible components.”

Szili said that in future, plasma could be used to treat cancerous tumours by activating drugs contained within gels injected into the body.

“The active ingredients could be delivered over a lengthy period, improving treatment, with a better chance of penetrating a tumour. Plasma has massive potential in the medical world, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.”

The next step will involve clinical trials to optimise the electrochemical technology for treatment in human patients, Szili said.