Media Release: King’s College Hospital makes ‘Headway’ with instrument fleet.
For operating theatre and clinic managers already under pressure from waiting time initiatives and changes to surgical technique, managing the surgical instrument fleet can be a real challenge. Instruments go missing, yet managers still have to ensure the sterile service is maintained while meeting tight financial targets.
At King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, they have been taking steps to solve the problem with a joint management project named ‘Headway’. Its aim is to achieve the following:
- All instrument stock is assessed, requisitioned, revised and stored correctly.
- All surgical instruments are traceable, providing an accurate inventory record for the Trust.
- There is a reduction in the requirement for fast track reprocessing.
- All instruments are delivered in a safe and suitable way that complies with legislation and meets the needs of clinical users.
- Ensure the Trust is compliant with the NICE guidance of November 2006 on vCJD.
Decon Sciences is the King’s College Hospital decontamination supply chain provider and has been engaged to ensure project Headway achieves its objectives.
An audit of the existing inventory was completed in May, along with a review of surgical procedures expected to be undertaken in the year ahead. A business case was presented to the trust’s capital funding team.
Decon Sciences was commissioned to establish an instrument audit team who would be responsible for the auditing of instruments and trays. All instruments were marked, labelled and accounted for within the trust. Decon Sciences used its partner Scantrack’s individual laser marking sytem to identify each instrument and follow a logical audit process to review all instrument trays within the service.
The project began in July 2007 with the expectation that by December, all surgical instrument trays within the trust will have been reviewed, the instruments marked and revised tray lists completed. This will subsequently provide the trust with a complete instrument fleet inventory.
The program has already identified several ways that instruments go missing and this has led to a review of the procedures theatres and departments use to check their instruments after use. The trust can now plan their patient treatments more effectively using the clearer picture they have of their existing instrument fleet.