Hospital ‘assets’ more quickly located

Around 2,500 high value medical devices – from infusion pumps to monitors and scanners – used at the Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert near Falkirk, one of Europe’s most modern and well-equipped healthcare hospitals – are now tracked by an RFID system from Harland Simon, minimising the time technicians spend looking for equipment. Indeed, as a recent article published in HEJ’s sister title, The Clinical Services Journal, and now reproduced here, reports, RFID technology is increasingly being used by healthcare providers as a means of asset tracking to improve efficiency and maximise utilisation of a wide range of medical equipment, as well as large items such as hospital beds and patient hoists.

NHS Forth Valley is responsible for providing health services and improving the health of the population of Forth Valley. With its 860 beds, 25 wards, and 16 operating theatres, its main hospital, Forth Valley Royal Hospital, is one of the most modern and well equipped in Europe, and has been purpose-built to provide the very highest standard of accommodation and facilities for patients, visitors, and staff. 

In June 2014, Bryan Hynd, the head of medical physics at NHS Forth Valley, chose a RFID Discovery asset tracking solution from Harland Simon to track the location of mobile medical devices in the Forth Valley Royal Hospital. With his team of 14 staff, Bryan Hynd is responsible for managing all 14,000 mobile medical devices, which includes purchasing new equipment, carrying out planned preventative maintenance, and repairing faulty devices.