Background
North Middlesex University Hospital, known locally as North Mid, is a district general hospital in the London Borough of Enfield, sited a few miles from the new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It is managed by North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust.
The hospital has been on its present site for over 100 years, and a philosophy of modernisation and innovation has been at the heart of its mission: to provide outstanding care for local people.
One of the most recent examples of this has been the introduction of surgical trolleys in seven of the hospital's main theatres and minor ops theatre.
Approach
The original problem which led the Trust to this change was finding their transport trolleys, which were being used across the hospital, often seemed to migrate to other departments - which sometimes meant the team having to hunt down the equipment they needed to keep lists running smoothly.
North Mid's Head of Anaesthetics and Theatres is Zaki Khusrow, and he saw that having dedicated 'theatre trolleys' would be a solution - and when he started to investigate suitable models, he found there was an even better option available.
He explained: 'I had come across surgical stretchers while working with another Trust a few years ago, and soon began to see this could be the perfect answer. I talked with my colleagues - surgeons, anaesthetists, ODPs and nurses - and asked everyone to investigate what was available in today's market.'
One of the options was the QA4™ Mobile Surgery System: the British equipment designer and manufacturer Anetic Aid was already a regular supplier to the hospital and Regional Account Manager Neil Child worked with Zaki to show how this approach could offer even more benefits. He provided QA4s set up for orthopaedic and gynae / urology surgery for trial in the department and offered training and support for staff until they became familiar with the equipment.
'While there is always a possibility that patients will have to stay with us overnight after their procedure, it is now the exception rather than the rule'.
Outcome
Explained Zaki: 'The trials were a success, and Neil was also able to advise us on the number of QA4s we would need. We started with 12 and have just bought one more to complete this phase of the project.
'At first some of the team were a little sceptical, as people always are about change, but as time has gone on, we have found even more benefits than we first imagined.
'The initial problem of trolleys disappearing around the hospital simply doesn't happen any more because they are exclusively for our use. This has also helped infection control, as we have a very strict cleaning protocol in Theatres, and we are able to manage that very effectively now.
'The fact that the QA4 combines both patient transport and a surgical platform is much better for manual handling - reducing risk for patients and staff alike. Removing the need for transfer (our old system was trolley → operating table → trolley → bed / recliner chair) also saves time, which helps throughput in Theatre. No-one wants to go back to the old system!'
The electrical positioning offered by the QA4s is another aid to manual handling, and the team have also found that patients appreciate the range of movement in functions like the backrest and platform height / tilt so they can be really comfortable once they are awake in recovery.
As well as proving very reliable, the QA4s can be fitted with most existing operating table attachments - and because their equipment was new, the team were able to customise their QA4™ Mobile Surgery Systems with some factory-fitted specifications like foot-end side bar, enabling them to carry out foot and knee surgery, and traction for all orthopaedic procedures. The purchase of special attachments like the Retrograde Pyelography Extension has also improved C-arm access for urology and gynae surgery.
Said Zaki: 'In addition to gynae, urology and orthopaedics, we also carry out procedures in general and breast surgery, and ophthalmics - and trauma associated with any of these specialisms. About 70% of all these care carried out as day cases.
'The success of this project has not just about the equipment - it's also thanks to the support from Neil and the company: good customer service is all about communication and we have found them very professional, supportive and approachable.
'We are already looking to the future and have plans to take the QA4s into our Day Surgery Unit - and we know the design team at Anetic Aid is also working on new models for other specialisms too. We look forward to learning more!'
