Seamless integration of mobile theatre teams

Benjamin Franklin famously said “by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”; a mantra which seems to run at the heart of Vanguard Healthcare, which provides hospitals with access to its 40-strong fleet of vehicle-borne temporary operating theatres and surgical units. The NHS is significantly its largest client in the UK, although the former Nuffield Health business, which went through a management buy-out in 2009, also supports private hospitals and clinics, and for the past two years the company has also found itself increasingly in demand from healthcare clients throughout Europe. “Whoever we are working with, be it private, public, at home or abroad, the requirement to assemble and foster the right team environment is core to successful integration of host and third party clinical services personnel,” said Vanguard’s director of marketing and operations, Mary Smallbone. “Having successfully integrated our own clinical teams with those of our clients on too many occasions to count, we are acutely aware of the importance of working relationships, thorough operational planning, while blending our own experience and procedures with the experience of each individual hospital that we begin a relationship with.”

 Planning

A focus on planning goes hand in glove with ensuring that, under the temporary arrangements of different facilities from normal, the patient experience is in no way disrupted. In some cases patients are totally unaware of the fact that a mobile facility is in use, which is testimony not only to the seamless infrastructure but the newly integrated clinical teams. Pam Bennett has been Vanguard’s operations manager for the past three and a half years: “I’m responsible for managing a team of 30 nurses and operating department practitioners, which includes everything from training and customer relations to resource management and integration. From the moment the team receives confirmation that an enquiry from a potential client has converted into a live contract, the planning process kicks into action, comprising almost a hundred staged processes, from compliancy issues to infection control. “Over the course of a decade, our mobile services have delivered more than 160,000 patient procedures, ranging from orthopaedic surgery, ENT, urology and endoscopy – a total that is rising rapidly as we expand our services into Europe and international markets, including India. Our clinical understanding enables us to guide our clients efficiently through the whole process, from conception to clinical delivery, and infection control through to security. “It is hard to believe that at any one time, we may have mobile units providing in-situ surgical services in as many as 35 towns, cities and other locations around the UK, plus those in Italy and Northern Europe of course. “Our mobile units are used by healthcare providers when their existing facilities are in need of refurbishment or to provide additional capacity as a result of the growing demand for operations. The number of clinical staff we deploy is very much dependent on the requirement of each individual contract, which is discussed during the planning stage. For example, if a client is refurbishing existing surgical facilities, they are already likely to have the staff needed to operate within the temporary facilities. Alternatively, client hospitals have the option of calling on our own clinical teams, many of whom have themselves worked within the NHS and, if not, will already be fully proficient and EU compliant in a range of surgical specialities. “During the planning meeting with the client, we conduct detailed discussions to agree what level of service and responsibilities will be required and then how the teams can best work together – the cross pollination of skills and ideas are integrated at this point to ensure the patients receive a seamless pathway dovetailed as closely possible with the hospital’s standard procedures.”