“Meets all our requirements” says The Ulster Independent Clinic
After proving itself in endoscopy and now equally successfully in sterile services, Angela Murray, decontamination lead at The Ulster Independent Clinic, Belfast, is full of praise for the Vestige electronic traceability system from Medical Intelligence Systems. “It’s adaptable. It meets our requirements. It’s future-proof. We’ve had no issues,” says Angela.
“We were due to install a new traceability system in our new department so, when Andrew Carson, solutions consultant with Medical Intelligence Systems, called and explained how their system worked, we listened and it seemed to meet all our requirements.”
“The system was installed in endoscopy towards the end of 2024. Andrew delivered the training, which was very straightforward. It’s a very user-friendly system. Once everyone was confident and had accepted it in endoscopy, we looked at installing it in HSDU, which went live at the end of March this year.
“It suited our needs with the versatility it has to capture and report on the information we need for our processes. It’s accessible and adaptable integrating with the equipment we have and also any future equipment or systems which we may get.”
Revolutionising the reprocessing of surgical instruments
Assisting the clinic’s commitment to providing state-of-the-art healthcare services, Medical Intelligence System’s Vestige is an innovative electronic traceability system designed to revolutionise the reprocessing of surgical instruments. Replacing traditional modular technology, Vestige is a streamlined, Cloud-based application that enhances productivity, efficiency and sustainability whilst helping to ensure the highest standards of patient care.
Angela explains: “As with anything new, there is always a degree of apprehension, especially with this being the first installation, but Medical Intelligence Systems have been very supportive and helpful throughout and they’ve sorted any issues along the way very quickly. It’s definitely a good system.
“All the information we need is at our fingertips. If you wish, you can download the App onto your mobile. We currently don’t use a handheld device. Everything is QR coded. It takes the information and the system knows at any point where everything is. I can see on a dashboard where everything is in the department.
“You can make it bespoke to whatever you want it to do. The versatility of the system is excellent. It can be interrogated without interrupting the processes. A system like this has the potential to be used hospital-wide.”
System populated itself from available data
“The system populated itself as it can access all the available data we had,” says Angela. “The system transferred all the tray unit data. If we need to amend the contents of a set, we can go into the system and change it and the old set contents will be stored for future reference. It’s as simple as that, it’s very good for all aspects of the department. Whatever information you need, it will produce any data that you require – stock levels, costs, etc. The information is securely saved to the Cloud, so there’s no need to retain printed data.
“The staff are happy with it. They are all saying ‘it’s a great system’. People often don’t like change but once they have it explained and use it, they appreciate the benefits.”
Angela explains: “When you scan the tag, the system is screen prompted. In the clean room the screen will show you everything that is on a tray. With regard to changes noted in theatres, there is a slight difference to the format of the tray list and labelling, which is now a three-part label. This has all the necessary information for the set: Tray name, Operator ID number, Date processed and Expiry date.
“We’re a relatively small department, reprocessing instruments for eight operating theatres. Endoscopy has three AERs, HSDU has three washer-disinfectors and three sterilisers – two steam and one low temperature. We have a staff of ten who rotate between the two departments. The Vestige system would be suitable and transferrable to any size of operation.”
Hospitals enjoy the benefits of Cloud computing
A growing number of hospitals are moving applications to Cloud computing as it offers numerous benefits, including reduced costs, increased accessibility, improved disaster recovery, and enhanced collaboration. It also allows for quicker application deployment, automatic software updates, scalability, and is cyber-secure.
Medical Intelligence Systems’ Vestige is implemented into a Software as a Service (SaaS) environment. This is a Cloud-based software delivery model in which a vendor provides application software to users over the internet, typically on a subscription basis, making it user-friendly and accessible on smart devices with full contingency through cellular technology.
“Vestige gives you the ability to have an application that’s mobile and agile,” says Darren Crawt, sales and marketing consultant at Medical Intelligence Systems. “With seamless integration into existing clinical asset management systems using RFID, it addresses all mobility issues for smart devices. All existing data is automatically populated onto our system. We can integrate our applications on any smart device: Android, IOS and smart PCs. It’s a complete, closed-loop traceability system from decontamination right into theatre stores and theatres. It can be accessed by any device using NFC (Near Field Communication) – the system which enables you to pay using your smartphone.”
Real-time tracking provides live data
“We take all the data, the machine data normally on a ticket or a patient’s notes, into the Cloud. It’s retrievable and we can analyse it. Dual frequency asset management systems use RFID and our system integrates into that and it can read our tags. This cutting-edge RFID technology enables real-time tracking of surgical instruments, ensuring swift retrieval and reducing operating times. It gives you instant visibility of the status of surgical instruments, ensuring sterile tools are always ready when needed.”
Describing the process, Darren explains: “The technician simply scans the bar code into the machine and the rest happens seamlessly. We take real, live data, saving the technician time. No further scanning is necessary. Vestige analyses all machine data throughout the process and provides the cycle number. Nothing is out of sync. A digital sign-off is available. We store all the information electronically and it can all be downloaded whenever required. So, there are no issues with old, often unreadable printouts. It’s been shown that Vestige aids productivity, sustainability and efficiency, eliminating manual errors, reducing staff workload and enabling better decision making.
“We’re currently working on a number opportunities with hospitals across the UK and Ireland,” says Darren. “Decontamination teams see it as the future of electronic tracking and traceability for instrument reprocessing.”
Angela adds: “As a member of IDSc, at our last branch meeting, I told the members that the system was being installed. It has raised interest. Now having had the opportunity with the team to use the system we would certainly recommend it.”
