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Smiths Medical is ensuring its customers are prepared for the transition from Luer to non-Luer connectors following the publication of a new standard from the International Standards Organisation (ISO). The ISO 80369-6 is known globally as NRFit™, to help end users and clinicians identify the correct product for relative Neuraxial procedures.
Smiths Medical has created a range of materials to support clinicians and healthcare organisations during the transition to NRFit™. The support and advice is based on the Sentinel Alert 53 – Managing risk during transition to new ISO tubing connector standards.
Smiths Medical has worked closely with the BAREMA Special Interest Group for Neuraxial applications – which connects industry and leading clinicians – to develop tools and provide support as the NHS and other healthcare organisations make the transition to NRFit™.
BAREMA Special Interest Group members were Paul Sharpe, consultant anaesthetist, University Hospitals of Leicester; Ian Shaw, consultant anaesthetist, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and; Pete Phillips, director, Surgical Materials Testing Laboratory, Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend. The group have written a guide – ‘ISO 80369-6 Implementation of Neuraxial Devices in the UK’ – based on their own experiences of implementing the new standard. The guide has been put together to help hospital trusts set up a working group, to assist them in working towards converting to the new standard.
The ‘ISO 80369-6 Implementation of Neuraxial Devices in the UK’ guide has been created following the successful implementation of the current non-Luer solutions at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospitals of Leicester and is now available to other hospital trusts. The guide is based on the experiences and lessons learned during the implementation at both trusts. It aims to provide support, advice and guidance to other hospitals as they go through the transition.
The ‘ISO 80369-6 Implementation of Neuraxial Devices in the UK’ guide can be downloaded from the Obstetric Anaesthetists’ Association (OAA) website at www.oaa-anaes.ac.uk of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain & Ireland (AAGBI) website at www.aagbi.org
Glen Johnson, UK Marketing Manager at Smiths Medical, said: “At Smiths Medical we are committed to patient safety and have been championing the new ISO standard since it was first initiated. We are also actively involved with the BAREMA Group. I am really pleased to be able to offer this new guide to hospital trusts. Smiths Medical will continue to offer practical support and guidance to healthcare professionals, as they gear up for the introduction of the new ISO standard within their organisation.”
Smiths Medical can assist hospitals through the transition to NRFit™; from helping set up a working group to full implementation.
For more information contact Glen Johnson, UK Marketing Manager at Smiths Medical, on 01233 722 100 or email glen.johnson@smiths-medical.com
Image details: Smiths Medical’s CADD Ambulatory Pump – a NRFit pump to patient solution.
