Cardiac catheterisation gives doctors important information about the condition of the heart muscle, valves and blood vessels in patients with cardiac arrhythmia. Expensive and delicate, the catheters used must be stored very carefully. Medstor Ireland recently worked with main contractors David Jordan Architects and Titanium Developments at the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin to provide catheter and general storage for the clinic’s impressive new dedicated electrophysiology (EP) lab.
The lab, which is part of a €2 million investment, means the clinic can meet the needs of an increasing number of patients. Equipped to an extremely high standard, it gives Irish patients access to the latest technologies, some of which are not widely available in most European countries. Medstor was brought into the Blackrock Clinic project very early on, when the architects asked Business Development Manager Dom Gradwell to review designs and ensure they were in line with the requirements of HTM 71.
Dom was then able to work with the team at Medstor to develop a full materials management programme for the lab, including catheter-specific cabinets, each with capacity for boxed catheters and additional storage for general items, and standard cabinets for medical and surgical supplies. Medstor is known for the wide range of colours it offers, but in this case all the cabinetry was in a stunning bright white colourway to complement the clean, modern aesthetics of the lab.
In addition to providing safe storage, catheter storage cabinets should be designed in such a way that the boxed catheters can be accessed very quickly and easily, as they may be needed in emergency situations. To address this, Medstor equipped the Blackrock Clinic cabinets with telescopic runners that hold a mesh tray 800 mm deep, into which the catheters are placed. A bespoke divider solution across the X and Y axis of the tray ensures the catheters are kept separate from each other, minimising the risk of damage. The use of the telescopic runners means that trays can be pulled out very smoothly and the back of the trays accessed as easily as the front.
Catheters must be kept behind closed, locked doors for security and infection control. However, Blackrock Clinic wanted the lab’s clinical team to be able to see what was behind each door, so they could find items quickly. Locks cannot be attached to polycarbonate, so Medstor designed a framed door, the frame around the polycarbonate providing a surface to which the lock could be fitted.
The Medstor installation team worked closely with Titanium Developments, who built the spaces into which the cabinets were fitted. This level of collaboration was necessary to ensure that the bulky catheter cabinets, which stretch the length of the room, could be comfortably incorporated into what was quite a limited space. Once again, Medstor solutions meant that every millimetre of space could be used to the full, streamlining storage and ensuring that all catheters and consumables were stored safely until needed.
