Olympus Partners with King's College Hospital to Deliver Britain's Largest 3D Surgical Endoscopy Installation and Improve Efficiency in Surgery

SOUTHEND-ON-SEA, England, May 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

• New integrated surgical theatres built to improve patient care
• State of the art surgical imaging and tissue management technologies installed
• Improved hospital efficiencies as part of the NHS Five Year Forward View

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

NOTES TO EDITORS 

About King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 

King's College Hospital is one of London's largest and busiest teaching hospitals, with a strong profile of local services primarily serving the boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham and Bromley. Specialist services are available to patients across a wider catchment area, providing nationally and internationally recognised work in liver disease and transplantation, neurosciences, haemato-oncology and foetal medicine. For more information about King's College Hospital go to https://www.kch.nhs.uk/about

The Project Brief 

KCH, led by the procurement and theatre project teams, were tasked with delivering a high quality solution that allows access to the latest technology to treat patients, whilst minimising financial and service risk to the trust.

The KCH requirement was for the provision of a technological and financial solution for inpatient and day surgery services, operating around 2,000 procedures per month across general surgery, bariatric, liver, urology, orthopaedics, and gynaecology.

The Trust gave Olympus the brief for the supply, installation and on-going maintenance of fully integrated laparoscopic theatres and related equipment.  The main objectives for KCH were:-

• Maintain the clinical service level and surgical expertise
• Procure an innovative and alternative financing solution
• Guaranteeing surgical uptime (i.e. customers are guaranteed next-day replacement of surgical equipment when it needs to be repaired to avoid disruption to procedures) against defined key performance indicators

About Olympus 

As a worldwide leading manufacturer of optical and digital precision technology, Olympus provides innovative solutions for state-of-the-art medical systems, digital cameras as well as scientific solutions in the fields of microscopy and industrial inspection. The company's award winning products are instrumental in detecting, preventing and healing illness, driving scientific research and documenting life with artistic freedom. In the hands of its customers, Olympus' high-tech products help to make people's lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling. For more information about Olympus go to http://www.olympus.co.uk