The benefits of flexible healthcare facilities

An unplanned event, or a requirement to refurbish, upgrade or reconfigure existing clinical space, can often result in a need for a reliable temporary solution. Using a nearby facility is one option, but flexible healthcare infrastructure can provide a more efficient alternative.

Amid the daily pressures of a busy healthcare system, planning for a department refurbishment or upgrade project can be a challenge. It is essential that the temporary solution chosen is both reliable and effective, to minimise disruption to processes and patient care.

Sterilisation departments, for example, are often in use seven days a week, and are critical for the flow of patients and procedures in hospitals to continue unhindered. While utilising a nearby hospital or outsourcing to another provider are options, this requires taking the equipment offsite and is therefore associated with a level of risk.

By using a flexible mobile or modular facility on an insourcing basis, the hospital can retain control of the entire process ensuring any disruption to the existing service delivery is kept to a minimum. Bringing a mobile Central Sterilisation Services Department (CSSD) onsite has a number of benefits.

Ensuring continuity

The fact that all devices can be kept on the hospital site reduces risk and minimises delays, allowing the vital service of cleaning, sterilising and repackaging of surgical instruments to continue without disruption.

This reduces the need for outsourcing, which can often mean purchasing additional surgical devices or relying on a third-party track and trace solution. With an onsite facility this is not needed — Q-bital’s mobile and modular CSSD units are equipped to integrate with the hospital’s own equipment track and trace and IT systems.

Another benefit is that the hospital’s existing CSSD staff can be utilised effectively during any refurbishment period.

Boosting capacity

In addition to providing replacement capacity during a temporary breakdown or periods of planned refurbishment, a mobile CSSD can help boost capacity at times of increased demand, alongside a hospital’s existing sterilisation department.

A mobile CSSD can increase capacity substantially. During a recent contract in the Netherlands, one of Q-bital’s mobile CSSD units processed 25,000 DIN trays and packages over the course of just six weeks.

Mobile CSSD facilities stand alone and can be quickly deployed and installed in a place convenient for the hospital. They can also be quickly decommissioned and moved when no longer needed.

Improving resilience

Unexpected events and emergencies, such as fires, storms, floods and other events, can leave a hospital with a need to very rapidly implement a temporary facility. Or, as has been the case during the COVID-19 pandemic, a need to upscale activity. Being prepared for such an event is essential, and since mobile and modular healthcare facilities can be installed within a very short space of time, they are ideal for this purpose.

However, many health service organisations also use flexible infrastructure in a planned way, incorporating these types of facilities into disaster recovery or service continuity plans.

Mobile facilities provide an optimal solution for quickly providing additional capacity to cope with future expected shifts in demand; to provide replacement capacity for planned refurbishments or to help choreograph a series of complicated changes to a hospital site.

Achieving compliance

For many hospitals, the requirement to adopt the new AS/NZS 4187:2014 sterilisation standards has meant a need to extend, upgrade or renovate existing sterilisation departments. In some cases, extensive works are needed.

Q-bital Healthcare Solutions’ mobile CSSD units or endoscopy decontamination units are already fitted out with compliant equipment, and can provide instant, albeit temporary, compliance while refurbishment is taking place. In addition, refurbishment or construction timescales for work done to the inside of the hospital can be reduced, meaning the risk of not meeting the standard by the deadline is significantly lowered.

With activity and staff moved to a facility that is already compliant with the new standards, new processes can also be implemented at an earlier stage.

Whenever a temporary facility is needed — whether because of a need to refurbish, or undertake essential works, an emergency or a temporary increase in demand — using flexible healthcare infrastructure makes sense.

The key benefit of mobile and modular facilities is their flexibility. Mobile and modular facilities can easily be removed and relocated, and as they require little in the way of enabling works, can be set up very quickly. In summary, flexible healthcare facilities provide flexible options for managing the estate.

Get in touch on info@q-bital.com to find out about availability of Q-bital’s mobile CSSD.