Medical Air Technology (MAT) recently supplied one of its unique lay-up cabinets to Nuffield Health Chichester Hospital as part of its ongoing relationship with the Nuffield Group.
The lay-up cabinet was installed in the Sterile Pack Store (SPS) that serves the hospital’s new operating theatres so the space could also be used as a prep room: an SPS does not in itself offer enough air changes to allow for the safe laying-up of instruments prior to surgical procedures, but the addition of MAT’s lay-up cabinet, designed specifically for this purpose, has created an area where instruments can be easily and safely laid-up, ready for use.
MAT’s lay-up cabinet offers maximum payback from minimum investment. It facilitates good infection control practice and improved theatre throughput, helping to keep everything flowing smoothly from one operation to the next.
Medical equipment placed under the cabinet’s diffuser is bathed in uni-directional HEPA-filtered air, which passes directly over the sterile instrument tray. It provides in excess of 1,000 air changes per hour over the instruments, many times more even than under an ultraclean ventilation canopy, creating a safe, sterile lay-up area.
The instrument tray can then be covered with a sterile cloth and taken into the operating theatre clean zone.
Requiring only 1.4m of free wall space and minimal installation time, the lay-up cabinet is the perfect solution when space is limited, but infection control essential. It also helps operating theatres to run more efficiently by supporting the hospital’s infection control regimen and reducing downtime due to contamination issues.
The newest and most advanced version of the cabinet, as installed at Nuffield Health Chichester, is available in three sizes, and features an electronic control panel, adjustable fan speed, integral LED lighting and a high quality powder-coated finish, designed to complement any theatre prep room.