Could I bring the existance of NAMDET* to the notice of Medical Device Trainers. Visit their web site which is hosted by Training for Innovation.
It is a national group with regional sections. They are trying to bring trainers together so they can share experiences, best practice, documentation etc.

Could you of the more technical pursuasion bring this to the notice of the trainers in your hospitals.
Thank you
RoJo
Trainers, you are not alone even though it might feel like it.


PS This is an official NHS sponsored group not just a few well meaning individuals.
PPS Educators in the private sector, including industry, are welcome as we all have the same goal.

*National Association of Medical Device Educators and Trainers

Not just another Quango then, Robert?

I notice that they are selling* stuff. They don't have a basic biomed tech training course on offer, I suppose?


A feeling so familiar (to many of us) that I've always considered it to be the "default" (although it is appreciated that you're really talking about Equipment Trainers).


Oh, not like the VRCT, you mean?

* With all proceeds going towards the care of patients at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital? We hope.

Geoff,
I think TFI is separate to Chel and West they just use offices and admin staff there, and the funds go back to TFI.
Namdet is just using their site and facilities for hosting their own site.
But without your (and my) cynicism where would we be?
RoJo

PS Just a member of NAMDET not on the board etc.

I think I liked it better when it was known as *THOTH.

* More catchy, wouldn't you say?

So did I but my teeth kept flying out when I said it.

THOTH concentrated on theatre equipment, they are now covering everything hence the name change. The initial idea for TFI was - as the name suggests - a reaction to equipment manufacturers wanting new innovative equipment to be put in to use rapidly.
NAMDET is specificaaly for trainers of equipment in use.
RoJo

Should these people be regulated? how about setting up a VRMDT? After all think of the harm a badly trained medic could do to a patient!!

Over to you Ed (for that favourite latin phrase) ... it's your turn!

Something about "who guards the gardners"?

The seat of intelligence then ?

Yes. Half-man, half-baboon. I come across them all the time.

But if anyone has to have a God, then I suppose that good old Thoth is a good as any.

That is one of the things NAMDET is looking in to.



The above was a serious request as it is very hard to track these people down. They are in so many different departments from Clinical Engineering through Education to Risk. It is not like phoning a hospital and asking for "Medical Electronics" and the switchboard says "You mean EBME, I will put you through"

Thanks
RoJo

Thank you RoJo,
NAMDET is a very useful group that seeks to standardise Medical Device Training throughout the country. These groups have guest speakers at their meetings i.e NHSLA assesors, MHRA, Care Quality Commission, National Learning Management System.

The cost of medical devices to the NHS is £11.2 billion per annum and litigation relating to adverse events involving medical devices cost at least £12 million, with 70% of errors down to the users."

The London Region meeting of NAMDET will take place on the 28th April 2011 at Barts and City London Hospital, details are on the NAMDET website or you can PM

Don't worry, "lessons will be learned"!

And the other 30%? What are they due to, and how much litigation is involved there, I wonder?

The next London Group NAMDET Meeting will be held on Tuesday 19th July, from 2pm until 4pm.

The meeting will take place at the Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Community Health Services Division. In the Defoe Building, Hackney Community College, 50 Hoxton Street, London N1 6LP

Any Medical Device Trainers, coordinators etc are welcome to attend.

A representative from the MHRA will be delivering a short presentation on Single Use Medical Devices at The London Group meeting of NAMDET.

There is still confusion about the recognition of the symbol and what it means. Single Patient use/single use etc.

Details of this meeting are listed above.

If you cannot make it to this meeting, but would like to know details of other meetings, then please let me know.

The London Group meeting of NAMDET held their quarterly meeting today.

An excellent presentation on single use medical devices was completed by Mike Peel of the MHRA. This highlighted what is really happening at Trusts with regard to the use and reuse? of single use medical devices.

The future of the Medical Devices Driving Licence was also discussed and the salient points of the MDDL.

The time periods for refresher training on High, Medium and Low risk medical devices.

If you would like to view the minutes, they will be available on the NAMDET website soon. Please register with this valuable organisation to view them.

The next National Association for Medical Devices Educators and Trainers (NAMDET) meeting for the London region will take place at:

Date: 7th November 2011
Time: 14:00hrs
Location: Royal Free Hospital
Sheila Sherlock Education Centre
Pond Street
NW3 2QG

There will be two CQC compliance inspectors who will complete a presentation on the Health and Social Care Act Regulation 16 - Outcome 11, Safety Availability and Suitability of Equipment.

For further information please PM or register with NAMDET via the Training For Innovation (TFI)website. This site is a very useful tool for all Medical Device Trainers/Coordinators, clinical Risk, Governance etc.

Hi John,

I've sent you over a PM about the next meeting.

Can you get back to me when you get a chance.

Many thanks,

Hi Johnny John John

With respect to you observation that 70 % of the user errors are down to users ( which I agree with ) I would like to bring the following to your ( that’s all biomeds ) attention ( and I welcome comments)

A significant contributing factor to this high incidence of user errors can be directly attributed to biomeds undermining the technical competence gained by nursing staff trying to “fix” equipment . Hospital based biomeds are ideally suited to report details of user errors by make and department to clinicians so they can put mechanisms in place to address these very import alerts to user ability and competence ( or lack of it )

However I am not aware of any department in the world which has consistently done this over a period of years – we biomeds seem to be obsessed about tagging equipment rather than tackling life threating safety issues – see page 10 and 27 on this link http://www.courts.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/86755/cif-mcvey-os-20081128.pdf

The troubleshooting guide in the user manual has been designed to enable a competent user to deal with issues at the point of care – each and every time some one steps up to the plate to “fix” these user issues - everybody is better for it – fixing things or having a go is how we all learn – especially when getting to know a make and model ( if you have trained on PB840 it doesn’t make you a expert on a Drager or any other make)

Most clinicians expect to find clinical resources on the hospital intranet – the one missing resource is the medical equipment instructions and hence breaking the cycle of not referring to the user manual is an issue

However the good news is that I have solved this by creating a shared database of instruction manuals ( plus 20 000) which allow hospitals to ensure this information is available to all staff 24/7 – more than 200 hospitals use this ( UK and Australian ) (http://bioclinicalservices.com.au/) – other than my obvious commercial interest – my mission is to target the 5 to 15 % of technically competent clinicians and remove the hurdles they need to go through to change the culture of pushing something aside and assuming it’s the device and not their ability . We need more technical skills at the bedside – after hours , weekends – a hospital is a 24/7 machine – not a 9 to 5 biomed department

For those of you who have access to the following publication I can recommend you download this article

Use error: a nurse's perspective.Dumais MM; Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology, 2004 Jul-Aug; 38 (4): 313-5 (journal article) ISSN: 0899-8205 PMID: 15338839 CINAHL AN: 2005027964

Thanks for your time and I look forward to comments

Just to add to my post :

Page 12 of the following news letter gives you some idea of the scope and purpose of my mission http://www.ceti.nsw.gov.au/newsletters/w1/i1002809/

I agree with the thrust of what you're saying there, Mate.

There's far too much "tracking of mistakes"* rather than preventing them in the first place.

You're right about "9 to 5" as well. I've been saying for years that, as hospitals have become High-Tech Workplaces, they need (and deserve) 24x7 technical services.

I also applaud your proactive approach and creativity. Good work. But ... how much?

* We hear it all the time here:- "lessons shall be learned" ... blah, blah, blah. Yeah, right.

Just to add to my post :

Page 12 October of the following news letter gives you some idea of the scope and purpose of my mission http://www.ceti.nsw.gov.au/newsletters/w1/i1002809/

Geoff

Don’t you ever sleep ?

It costs significantly less , in fact a fraction of what it would cost to build a database , rename the 2 or 3 thousand pdf ‘s in a 500 bed hospital and create links between the various makes and models so someone who for example has a syringe pump with “Asena “ on it can find it under any of the brand names – ie CareFusion , Cardinal Healthcare , Alaris etc – at the same time keeping it up-dated and by that I mean any clinician can fill in a doc request tab and we contact the manufacturer on their behalf .

It’s based on bed size and I would prefer to keep that out the public domain for now – Thanks comments

It's only nine in the evening just at the moment.

Hopefully I shall be good for a few hours yet.

OK ... but just to speed things along a little ... what are you getting at here:- are you trying to sell the service to hospitals et al worldwide, or what?

Am I right as well in thinking that you're talking about operators' (users') manuals only? And are they for "pay-per-view" downloading, or just unlimited viewing (but by subscription) on line?

And ... how about a link-in from (and to) this forum? How would you feel about that?

We manage and organise documents related to equipment hospitals have purchased ( most of the doc have been sent to us by the + 200 hospitals ) – this is not a subscription – the hospitals have bought this equipment and the associated user manuals etc

Therefore there is no pay- per- view , this is about making the manufacturer’s supplied information related to equipment purchased by the hospital - available 24/7 , accessible via the hospitals intranet and not the general public .

All this information belongs to the hospitals we deal with – we never own it and we don’t limit access within those hospitals so staff can download the relevant doc as many times as they like – limiting access would defeat the whole point

Like all outsourced clinical resources the access is governed by intranet policy of the hospital .

It eliminates Google searches , many individuals sending e-mails or phoning suppliers , hours lost due to missing ( and looking for ) User Manuals

If someone has a problem with a device – the focus is to walk up to a hospital pc – download the doc – fix the problem.

As pointed out – this info does not belong to us – so unfortunately I cannot create an open link ( keep in mind these are only User Docs – no service manuals )