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Inditherm has just received a prestigious award for its patient warming systems used during surgery. Sponsored by the UK Department of Health, the award for Suppliers Delivering Sustainability recognised the contribution of Inditherm systems to improving patient care, affordability and reducing environmental impact.
This latest success was part of the Community Partnerships Awards, presented at a gala dinner held at London Grosvenor House Hotel on Thursday 4 February 2010 and bringing together over 500 key industry players. These awards are considered to recognise dedication and endeavours towards improving the quality of life for current and future generations alike. The organisers underlined that the awards play a vital role in celebrating this success, as well as providing a benchmark for the industry to develop and grow.
A critical aspect in the selection of Inditherm for this award was the ability of their patient warming systems to deliver outstanding clinical performance at much reduced cost. This makes it sustainable to warm all surgical patients and thus provide better clinical outcomes, even at a time when NHS budgets are under extreme pressure. The advantages offered by Inditherm systems in this way are already helping hospitals to meet and exceed the UK NICE guidelines on preventing unplanned perioperative hypothermia. These guidelines highlighted the reduction in infection rates, blood loss, recovery times and mortality associated with warming of patients during surgery.
The award also recognised the environmental sustainability of Inditherm technology in this application. It is estimated that a change from traditional forced air warming to Inditherm patented carbon polymer technology will save over 1,000 kWh of electricity per year for every operating room. The annual reduction in clinical waste generated is further estimated to be in excess of 50kg per operating room. Even if only half of the NHS adopted Inditherm for patient warming then the saving would be more than 1,500 MWh of energy and 100 tonnes of clinical waste.
NICE issued a guideline in 2008 which relates to prevention of hypothermia in patients undergoing surgery. The recommendations indicated the need for an increase in patients receiving active warming in the UK NHS by around 150%. Recent figures obtained from the NHS suggest that an increase of over 80% in the use of traditional disposable warming products has been seen this financial year over last. At a time when hospital budgets are under great pressure this clearly makes for a difficult situation. It is estimated that the Inditherm technology could allow all patients to be warmed at the same time as reducing annual consumable costs in the NHS by over £10 million if universally adopted. The environmental savings highlighted in this latest award and the clinical benefits will deliver considerable further financial savings.
Speaking about the award Inditherm Chief Executive, Nick Bettles, said: "This award clearly recognises the contribution our patient warming systems can offer to the NHS. The judging panel was led by senior Department of Health and NHS managers and took into account the improved clinical care, dramatic reduction in expenditure and significant environmental contribution. The process leading to the award was rigorous and endorses the opportunity Inditherm technology provides for hospitals to meet NICE guidelines at the same time as reducing costs. This must be attractive to the NHS in the current economic climate."
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