Olympus Medical partners with King’s College Hospital London to improve patient care, overall efficiency

Olympus Medical is proud to announce their partnership with one of London’s largest and busiest teaching hospitals King’s College Hospital (KCH), with the aim of improving patient care, as well as overall efficiency. Through the partnership two new operating theatres have been created featuring upgraded surgical technologies including Full HD (FHD), 3D and 4K surgical imaging platforms and surgical tissue management system ‘THUNDERBEAT’.

“Olympus is thrilled with what has been achieved through this partnership. Having the opportunity to work closely with procurement, clinicians and theatre management has enabled us to identify the best implementation solution. This new approach maximises efficiency and uptime. We are excited at the prospect of continuing the partnership with King’s to enable transformation and sustainability in health care,” commented Mark Graves, Head of EndoTherapy and Strategic Development at Olympus KeyMed.

NHS Background

The NHS is constantly challenged to provide the highest standard of care for the United Kingdom’s growing and ageing population. Demand is rising and services are under pressure. As part of the Five Year Forward View, the NHS has been tasked to deliver new ways of providing care. Meeting these requirements for high quality care with available resources will continue to be a challenge. Identifying ways to improve efficiencies in the NHS will be critical to meet the increasing demand.

Guaranteed Performance Solutions (GPS)

In October 2012, Olympus was invited to tender for the provision of a managed equipment service within a theatre setting. Olympus proposed their Guaranteed Performance Solutions (GPS), designed specifically to respond to the changing health service landscape. The aim of this was to improve patient outcomes through efficiency gains, offering the best possible value for money to the trust.

As the name suggests a key element of Olympus’ provision is the guarantee. Olympus commits to ensure that the latest medical technology, within the scope of the agreement, is available to the clinician precisely when required. It must be fit for purpose and maintained to an appropriate level to enhance the patient’s experience. The GPS removes the reliance on high residual values typically built into a traditional leasing agreement. As a result, budget planning throughout the term is straightforward and transparent with fixed annual charges and no equipment return fees.

Success for Olympus

In March 2015, Olympus was confirmed as the successful service provider and began preparations for a large scale implementation of mobile imaging equipment and fully integrated turnkey operating theatres.

Throughout the process Olympus worked closely with the Trust team comprising of Senior Clinicians, Divisional Leads and Procurement. The Procurement lead steered the team through the Competitive Dialogue process.

“The introduction of this technology to the theatres has been positively welcomed by both clinical and non-clinical teams. Everyone has been very excited to be involved in this important project which will have a significant impact on patient care. The integration of the new ground-breaking technology has been incredibly smooth. The delivery of efficient patient care has been maintained during the entire process and disruption has been minimised which is so critical in a live working environment,” commented Kara Hollings, Theatre Service Manager at King’s College Hospital.

Laparoscopic and image-guided surgeries are increasingly taking place in an integrated surgical environment which includes high-resolution video displays, touch-screen control, and archival digital information. The move towards such integrated surgeries can help reduce dependence on mobile equipment, increase patient flow and improve patient outcomes.

Olympus replaced existing, older equipment with 16 mobile 2D and 3D surgical imaging platforms for inpatients and day surgery units. In January 2016, the first of three ENDOALPHA 3D integrated laparoscopic theatres were completed at the Denmark Hill site.

“It is very pleasing to see NHS Trusts adopting new technologies which can have such a marked impact on day to day efficiencies in surgery. Ultimately, any solution that can improve patient care whilst saving costs is a positive step forward to help support the delivery of services for the people who need them”, commented Mr Asif Haq, Consultant Laparoscopic Colorectal and General Surgeon