Public Funding for Uvamed Ltd

Medicycle is an innovative disruptive process to divert, decontaminate and deliver on for re-processing recyclable plastics currently disposed of in clinical waste streams generated by operating theatres that, due to the risk of infection, has previously been incinerated. Medicycle is a game changing medical plastics recycling system that will pilot the introduction of a circular economy business model by diverting recyclable plastic clinical waste generated in operating theatres away from incineration. Routine use of procedure packs, single use plastics and packaging in surgery contribute 29% of all hospital waste, 40% of which is potentially recyclable. This linear economy value chain produces potentially over 68,000/tonnes of recyclable waste for incineration/pa in the NHS. Current policy for theatre waste is to dispose of in clinical waste bags which require incineration at licensed facilities costing up to £1,000/ton. Medicycle will improve on the current state-of-the-art in two important ways: \* Reduce the volume of recyclable plastic incinerated to reduce emissions of GHG's, reduce the burden of new polymer from virgin materials and support a circular economy for NHS plastic waste \* Reduce the costs to the NHS for waste incineration Added benefits will filter through to industry supporting recycled plastics and reduce the burden on incineration capacity for clinical waste. Medicycle diverts recyclable plastics at point of disposal, renders it safe in line with regulations to introduce into dedicated waste streams of PP, PE and PVC established recycling platforms, thereby supporting a transition to a circular economy for medical plastic waste and reducing dependence on virgin material.

The most frequently cited critical incidents in anaesthesia are drug administration errors. Unlike in the inpatient hospital ward setting, perioperative medication administration today often bypasses standard safety checks, such as electronic physician order entry with decision support, pharmacy approval of specific drugs before administration, and multiple nursing checks at the time of medication administration. Furthermore, the high-stress, time-sensitive nature of operating room care may lead to both higher rates of medication errors (MEs) and errors of high severity. Current practice prior to administration usually involves all the drugs being placed together with respective ampoules in a single non-compartmentalised tray made from either paper pulp or polypropylene therefore prone to syringe swaps, medication error and with limited or no infection control. In collaboration with University of Derby, through this 18 months industrial research project, we (UVAMed Ltd) are developing completely compartmented, IS26825:2008 colour-coded, bacteriostatic, anaesthetic syringe trays (called Rainbow-Trays) designed with human factor principles to reduce medication error by assisting anaesthetists in the medication preparation and administration process.

The recent COVID19 pandemic has highlighted the adverse effects on healthcare systems to effectively deal with medical-related disasters. Whilst exceptionally ill patients are cared for within existing hospital infrastructures, patients requiring less intensive care, but still in need of hospitalisation, are cared for remotely. It is these remote facilities that require specific support to operate, as they will not have the resources of main hospitals. In particular the human resources allocated to remote facilities may be less experienced to deal with the specific medical interventions required, the equipment may be unfamiliar and limited and the environment may be challenging to staff and patients alike. Nightingales ratio of consultant to patient is 1:42 compared with standard ICU ratios of a maximum of 1:15\. While nursing ratios have increased from 1:1 to at least 1:6\. The challenge of providing appropriate and effective care, specific to the needs of patients in relief hospital facilities is one that Trauma Trays can help to support. By providing organisational, secure and auditable procedure-packs (TraumaTrays) containing equipment and medication curated for specific tasks or emergency incidents, remote hospital facilities/departments can deliver quality and specific care to patients whilst allowing for the optimum use of human resources across all sites to deliver the best care as quickly and efficiently as possible. State-of-the-art crash-carts in ICU or A&E are equipped for all eventualities and are familiar to all professionals in the department. However, the provision of comprehensive equipment, comparable to ICU or A&E standards in remote facilities is both costly and inappropriate; but relevant equipment and drugs must be immediately available for the patients. Curated and secure procedure-packs, centrally dispensed by the main hospital, securely sealed with auditable labels, will provide a means to get essential and appropriate equipment, supplies and drugs to patients, remotely hospitalised, quickly and safely. The effect of the ‘Extension for Impact’ funding is that we can validate the outputs from the project planned and disseminate these to a global audience through established and new channels providing credible data to support the benefits of Trauma Trays into established and new procedure pack markets. The dissemination activities generated during the term of the extension will continue beyond the term of this project into 2021 and beyond as they naturally follow from the work already delivered. The commercial opportunities for emergency, military and Nightingale use will be supported as we can demonstrate feasibility within the procedure pack market evidencing improved patient safety and cost benefits.