Epsom and St Helier University Hospital NHS Trust was formed in 1999, bringing together four hospitals – Epsom, St Helier, Sutton and Queen Mary’s Hospital for Children. The Trust provides an extensive range of services to nearly 900,000 people in South West London and North East Surrey, including Sutton, Merton and Epsom.
The remote support service
At St Helier Hospital, when their point-of-care (POC) service was quite new, Radiometer was at the start of it. Helen Berry, point-of-care coordinator (POCC) at St Helier and Epsom hospital, recalls the early beginnings of POC testing.
When operators first worked with the newly installed ABL90 FLEX blood gas analyzers, Ray, Radiometer’s local Senior Medical Service Engineer frequently visited the hospital to provide service and support.
The thing we value most is that the analyzers just keep running 24/7. They need to be constantly in use, and they can’t have lots of downtime. So LIVE Connect helps if Ray can diagnose things quicker, there’s less downtime.
- Helen Berry, POCC
Remote performance monitoring with installing LIVE Connect
With LIVE Connect—a service that helps you partner with Radiometer to reduce analyzer downtime and remain compliant—operators continue to contact Ray to raise challenges with the analyzer.
However, this time, LIVE Connect enables Ray to figure out solutions to challenges from his computer. In some cases, he may not even need to go to the hospital.
Helen explains that, "if I say to Ray 'I think there’s an issue with this machine,' he could tell me if it was an issue, how long the analyzer has been green for, how long it has been down for. That kind of thing is useful. It’s basically running itself. We have a lot of things to look after, so ease of use and the fact that it’s sort-of ticking along nicely, is probably what’s best for us."
Remote performance monitoring and high analyzer uptime
As the POCC, Helen checks her point-of-care IT solution, AQURE, everyday. While she would generally monitor blood gas analyzers from AQURE, operators on the ward are trained to do basic maintenance. When operators are not able to solve a problem, Helen steps in and assists them. And when Helen cannot solve the problem, that’s where LIVE Connect comes in.
The Medical Service Engineer gets an overview of the connected analyzers in the hospital. He supports the hospital by monitoring the performance of the analyzers remotely. LIVE Connect’s feature of remote performance monitoring as a service gives Helen peace of mind. She knows that she can get a second opinion when it comes to assessing analyzer challenges.
Helen emphasizes the value of the uptime of the analyzer. She explains that, "we can't have downtime because the analyzers are in two hospitals, and we've got them at A&E and ICU and the neonatal unit. They need to be constantly in use. So LIVE Connect helps if Ray can diagnose things quicker, there's less downtime."
That kind of thing is useful. It’s basically running itself. We have a lot of things to look after, so ease of use and the fact that it’s sort-of ticking along nicely, is probably what’s best for us.
- Helen Berry, POCC
Remote support and the neonatal unit
Helen talks about a challenge she encountered in the neonatal ward a couple of weeks ago. Following her own maintenance checks, Helen then contacted her local Medical Service Engineer.
Ray was able to identify the challenge remotely and enabled the analyzer to be up and running very quickly.
Supporting the POCC
Helen is pleased with the LIVE Connect remote support, 24/7 service and quick response rate. She notes that "all the maintenance with the analyzers is there. I can change consumables. I can change inlet valves. Other than the basic maintenance, if there are further challenges, that's when I will contact Ray."
Helen continues, "with LIVE Connect, it means that Ray can provide support without us needing to be there."
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