Harland Simon says East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust (EKHUFT) is ‘experiencing multiple cost and efficiency improvements’ using its RFiD Discovery system to track over 5,000 medical devices, including 1,000 beds.
Harland Simon said: “Active RFID tracking has considerably reduced the time clinical and engineering staff spend looking for devices, improved equipment utilisation levels, increased patient safety, and helped drive down the need for ad-hoc device hires. Supporting their three medical equipment libraries, RFiD Discovery helps keep track of devices across EKHUFT’s three major acute hospital sites'
Each device’s active RFID tag sends a regular message to a network of fixed readers placed at various hospital locations, while the clinical engineering team use mobile readers to audit wards ‘in a fraction of the time it took previously.
Dr. Tony Beaumont, Anaesthetic consultant, and head of the Medical Devices Group at EKHUFT, said: “Ward staff now spend less time finding equipment, and more time actually using it for patient care. The nursing teams have great faith in the libraries, and their use has been one of the success stories of our medical equipment management.”
