1. In-house Endoscope Support
Submitted by
Name: Anne-Louise Smith
Affiliation: CED Collaborator
National association (if exists): SMBE, Society of Medical & Biological Engineering
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
address for contact:

2. Country Estimates in Brief Please fill the statistics you can find
Population
Australia 24M
South Australia 1.7M
Population Growth Rate
Australia 1.3%
South Australia 0.7%
Life Expectancy at Birth
80.3 male, 84.4 female
Infant Mortality Rate
3/1000 live births under 1 yr
Number of Health Centers in Country
747 public hospitals
612 private hospitals
Total Expenditure on Health as % of GDP
9.1%
Global CE / HTM Success Stories

3. Country's Health Technology Program In-house Endoscope Support
Conduct a 2 year trial to prove endoscope uptime could be increased with in-house support at no increase in service cost
Started pilot study mid-2012 (South Australia)
Baseline
Average repair turnaround time 50 days
12% repairs completed within 30 days
January 2016
Global CE / HTM Success Stories

4. Country's Health Technology Program Next Steps for Success Story
Set-up and implement pilot study
Two specialist biomedical technicians received intensive training for 2 weeks in USA
On their return, they trained multiple staff in easy repairs, and more senior staff in moderately difficult repairs
Three specialised workstations were created at the 3 major hospitals and 3.5 staff allocated to endoscope repairs
Ongoing support by specialists to supervise and maintain high quality of repairs
Workforce Health and Safety risks mitigated by good work practices (gloves, eye protection, users sign off on sterilisation before repairs)
January 2016
Global CE / HTM Success Stories

5. Conclusions and Action Plan
Endoscopes available when needed for patient treatment
Turnaround time for repair decreased
Average 12 days (down from 50 days)
61% repairs completed within 30 days (up from 12%)
Costs reduced: Less spare scopes needed in stock and cost of service ratio for endoscopes reduced from 18% to 10%
The 3.5 staff were made permanent to continue in-house endoscope support (650 flexible endoscopes)
Now investigating other biomedical technologies with long repair times with the view of bringing support in-house
January 2016
Global CE / HTM Success Stories