Specialist infusion company, CME Medical, has partnered with InterVene to meet the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) guidelines for safer neuraxial devices by adopting the Surety non-Luer connector.
From 1 April 2013, all epidural, spinal and regional anaesthesia infusions and bolus doses should be performed with devices that will not also connect with intravenous equipment. This will prevent fatal mix-ups with intravenous and spinal routed medicines. All CME Medical epidural administration sets will incorporate InterVene Surety connectors designed to minimise wrong route errors, thereby ensuring NPSA compliance.
The BodyGuardT 545 Epidural Infusion Pump from CME Medical already addresses all of the recommendations raised by the NPSA in their briefings on epidural safety. However, the addition of Surety to this system places the BodyGuard at the leading edge of safer epidural infusion technology. The system also offers the flexibility to connect to a variety of spinal and epidural kits that have also adopted the Surety system.
Surety is an innovative non-Luer, neuraxial system designed by InterVene, an award-winning UK syringe manufacturer. Surety products have been fully validated and are already widely used within many products in the NHS Supply Chain for a variety of applications by companies including: Sarstedt, Pajunk, Blue Box Medical, B Braun, Vygon and Rocket Medical.
“We are delighted to be partnering with CME – one of the leading suppliers of epidural infusion systems,” said Matt Root, managing director of Intervene. “I believe that InterVene and our partners, such as CME Medical, are well positioned to respond to the inevitable clamour for nonâLuer products when the NPSA deadline arrives. By developing strategic partnerships with established device manufacturers, we have been able to accelerate the introduction of the Surety system and broaden the choice of safer products available in the market. Uptake of Surety in hospitals has been impressive. The NPSA alert is yet to kick in and already over 70 UK hospitals have converted from Luer to Surety.”
“CME Medical is committed to patient safety and we always aim to ensure all of our infusion products fully comply with the recommendations of the NPSA,” confirmed Andrew Churnside, sales and marketing director of CME Medical. “By partnering with InterVene we are confident that we fully comply with NPSA/2009/PSA004A-B to minimise wrong route medication incidents.”
