Hospital investment for even greater patient safety

A Plymouth hospital has invested in the latest cutting-edge technology to ensure even greater safety for patients attending an Outpatient Department appointment.

Peninsula NHS Treatment Centre has installed a multi-function M8 Healthcare Monitor machine. The very latest of its type, the machine can read a patient’s height, weight, pulse and blood pressure, and calculate their Body Mass Index (BMI).

When the patient steps on the machine’s platform it measures their height and weight. They then insert their wrist into a special aperture in the machine which measures their blood pressure and pulse.

The machine then prints out the readings for the patient’s notes and for their information.

The system reduces the amount of face-to-face contact time spent between nursing staff and patients and is the latest in a number of effective measures taken at Peninsula NHS Treatment Centre to maintain a clean, infection-free environment.

The process is overseen by Outpatient Department nurses and while physical human contact is reduced, the patient is monitored at every step of their appointment.

Since the end of March the team at Peninsula have upskilled and adapted to take on patients for surgery in the areas of breast cancer, urgent urology, vascular, cancer plastics, ambulatory trauma for plastics, ambulatory trauma for orthopaedics, urgent ENT and urgent general surgery.

The hospital’s three operating theatres are working at 100% capacity five days a week, with procedures carried out by clinical and nursing teams from Peninsula, UHP and Nuffield. Between 30th March and 20th June the hospital carried out 595 surgical procedures and saw 1862 Outpatient Department appointments.

The hospital’s Outpatient Department team is carrying out pre-assessment clinics and COVID-19 swabbing for all patients coming to Peninsula for care. The department is also accommodating plastics clinics, vascular ultrasound clinics, gynaecology clinics, occupational therapy and physiotherapy lumbar clinics.

Peninsula’s MRI facility is being used for NHS patients, and the hospital has released 30 beds to accommodate patients who require a post-operative stay and stepdown patients from local NHS Trusts.

While Peninsula NHS Treatment Centre continues to support the needs of local NHS patients in this way, the team are also working towards facilitating a phased return to planned procedures for orthopaedics, cataracts, general surgery, endoscopy and diagnostic imaging. Peninsula NHS Treatment Centre is the first hospital of its kind to be rated ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission.

Mark White, Hospital Director at Peninsula NHS Treatment Centre, commented: “The patient experience sits at the heart of everything we do, which is why we are always happy to invest in technology which enhances the safety and quality of treatment we provide our patients. This latest investment complements the work of our Outpatient Department team while reducing some of the ‘hands on’ elements of an appointment – all part of the many ways we are rising to the challenges of change brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.”