PA calls for electronic tracking of medical devices

The Patients Association has called for the NHS to introduce modern electronic ‘data capture’ systems to enable individual medical devices and surgical instruments to be effectively tracked to improve patient safety.

With many NHS trusts still using paper-based systems to record instrument usage and track devices both on site and through offsite sterilization facilities, the Patients Association says that patients’ health is being put at risk because NHS staff cannot readily tell whether a specific surgical instrument is dirty or not. It calls for greater use of bar codes, and technology such as Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) tags.

In a new PA survey just over a third of respondents reported that it was impossible to track back and locate a single individual surgical instrument. Use of paper based tracking systems varied greatly between departments, from around one-third in sterile services, to two-thirds for theatre and endoscopy.

The survey also highlighted the relative lack of effective back-up systems to enable medical devices to be quickly tracked down, identified and withdrawn when there is an outbreak of MRSA, incidence of vCJD or high level of cross-infection in a hospital.

Less than half of those that responded to the survey said that they actually tracked individual surgical instruments, as opposed to tray sets, in sterile services. A third of respondents reported that it was impossible to track back and locate a single individual surgical instrument.

Simon Williams, Director of Policy at the Patients Association told E-Health Insider: "It’s about having the confidence to know whether a particular surgical instrument is dirty or sterile."

Williams added that current DH guidelines only require tracking of instrument trays rather than individual instruments: “This limits the effectiveness of attempts to trace instruments which have been used on a patient later found to have a high risk infection. Too many Trusts seem to be resisting investing in the latest systems because department of health guidance doesn’t call for full instrument tracking systems. This must be impacting on patient safety.”

Another finding of the PA survey was that up to a quarter of those surveyed said they were not confident that instruments are properly decontaminated. "Many health professionals told us they did not have confidence in decontamination processes," Williams told EHI.

Around one-in-ten respondents said up to 5% of devices they saw had problems after cleaning. “In a large hospital that’s many hundreds of devices a year,” said Williams.

According to the survey 97% of hospital staff said that the new generation of off-site sterile service decontamination “super centres” now under development need to have ‘track and trace’ systems for individual medical devices in order to guarantee effective patient safety.

"I hope Ministers will take note and act to ensure improved tracking systems, tagging each and every instrument, are mandated across the NHS,” added Williams. "The PA wants to engage with the NHS to share best practice and encourage the introduction of track and trace technologies."

He contrasted the mixed situation in the NHS with that of supermarkets where use of bar codes and product tracking systems has been commonplace since the 1980s.