Institution news
In a recent presentation on Patient Safety at the Patient First Conference at ExCeL, I discussed the work of biomedical engineers, their contribution to creating cost-effective and safe healthcare solutions and the opportunities to access their wealth of technological expertise, right at the heart of NHS trusts.
The solution to every major issue facing our planet and population will require the involvement of engineers. Whether climate change, an ageing population or food supply, engineers will tackle these problems.
ERA Foundation 2010
It was clear from the number of technology companies attending the event and the fact that Patient First had introduced a technology theatre at this year’s conference, that engineering plays a fundamental role in almost every aspect of our personal and working lives. We have a saying at the Institution, 'nothing moves without mechanical engineers', and this saying is as true today as it was in George Stephenson’s time ― especially when it comes to healthcare technology.
Of the Institution’s 113,000 members about 2% are registered as having an interest in healthcare or being biomedical engineers, working across industry, academia and within the NHS. Like doctors, engineers have similar oaths to 'do no harm' by ensuring they do not compromise society’s welfare and safety and that they listen and work with society to create transformative technology for the right reasons. It follows then, that patient safety is imperative for engineers in healthcare and that the prevention and avoidance of harm is at the forefront of all they do - especially with a growing ageing population, increases in lifestyle-related chronic illnesses and reductions in social care provision, all of which raise pressures on hospitals' emergency departments.
Biomedical engineers work in a vast range of areas and roles across the healthcare sector, from assistive technology to neurosensory devices. They are responsible for the development of equipment which diagnoses, treats and rehabilitates patients. They develop technologies which help measure, model and simulate human anatomy. They have pioneered the development of artificial joints and organs, robotic surgical equipment, and the growing area of personal health-devices and wearables, helping people and doctors stay connected 24/7.
Yet even with such imperatives, risk mitigation, regulations and operating procedures, we recognise that technology can go wrong and mistakes will be made. The 2014 'reporting and learning' quarterly figures showed an average of 11,400 people experiencing some form of reportable incident due to medical device or equipment failure, of which 74 incidents were either classed as severe or resulted in death; 60 similar incidents were reported 2015/16. That is 60 people too many.
This is why the Institution is calling for clinicians and engineers to have a stronger working relationship; to work together to reduce the occurrence of harm to patients and to ensure that where technology and medical devices are being used, they are the right tools for the job.
The problem is, the perception of what an engineer is in the NHS is often misunderstood. It is often split between those engineers in clinical roles and those in infrastructure and facilities; although the general perception is engineers ‘just fix things’. We refer to engineering in the clinical environment as biomedical engineering, 'the integration of engineering with the knowledge of physiology and anatomy', but in the NHS it is often called clinical engineering or medical physics and comes under the workforce title of ‘healthcare scientist’. This is a misleading description that sometimes results in the engineer’s role within the clinical setting being undervalued and poorly understood.
The Institution recently met with Lord Carter to bring the issue of ‘cost savings through technology’ to his attention. He recognised that more thought should be given to engineers working in the NHS and their increased mobilisation could provide much needed support to frontline staff.
It is our belief that significant savings and efficiencies could be realised if engineers within the NHS were empowered to shoulder some of the burden of patient safety, through the design, selection, purchasing, maintenance and decommissioning of medical devices and equipment. This would not only strengthen the clinical/technical relationship but allow doctors and nurses to get back to focusing on patient care.
What is clear to the Institution is that in order to make the likes of Lord Carter’s review a success we need to better exploit the skills and expertise of NHS engineers to get the best use from the technology in our hospitals. I am not suggesting that this is a silver bullet solution to all of the NHS’s problems. But by seizing the opportunities biomedical engineers offer the health service, we have an opportunity to explore new, more efficient ways of working; creating cost-effective and safe healthcare solutions by utilising an existing workforce, without adding additional cost burdens to our trusts.