Authors (including presenting author) :
Chau LF(1), Hui FH(1), Leung TF(1), Chu KW(1), Wong YH(1)
Affiliation :
(1)Operation Room Instrument Store, Department of Anaesthesiology, Pain Medicine and Operating Services, United Christian Hospital
Introduction :
Operating Room Instrument Store (ORIS) of United Christian Hospital issued approximately 11,000 sets of instruments or supplementary throughout 2020. With average 100-150 ad-hoc calls for requesting instruments from 11 operating theatres (OT) per day, resulting in substantial work burden to the single supporting staff who delivers the instruments on top of their routine duties. ORIS has introduced an automatic delivery system involving a robot “Ah-Po in December 2020 to transport small-size instruments to theatres.
Objectives :
The objectives of this project are:
1. to relieve manpower;
2. to speed up the delivery process of instruments after implementation of a fully automatic delivery system;
3. to reduce the risk of infection during transportation.
Methodology :
Consensus on service needs, requirements and tracts were sought from management and the supplier of “Ah-Po” at the planning phase. Technical and infrastructure installation was then carried out. “Ah-Po” has multiple visual sensors with 3D environment detection which can greatly reduce the risk of OSH accidents. It has a 3-level shelf and the maximum load-bearing is 30kg. A 3-month soft-launch was led by ORIS with a briefing session to OT staff at the beginning of 2021. Feedback was collected from ORIS and OT staff and “Ah-Po” was then upgraded with an automatic open-door function and Chinese version.
Result & Outcome :
Future Develop
In the next phase, more advanced features including lighting alert in theatres upon “Ah-Po” arrived and charging dock installation for automatic charging would be set; the service scope will then be extended to the adjacent area of Day Surgery Ward and Delivery Operating Theatre at 2/F (i.e. horizontal transport). Moreover, Mobile Call System is planned to be developed in order to enable OT staff to instruct “Ah-Po” to deliver and return instruments.
Conclusion
Positive feedback was received from both ORIS and OT staff in terms of relieving manpower, accuracy and speed of the delivery process, safety features and the user-friendly interface. “Ah-Po” does reduce working hours by 7.6 hours per day, which is equivalent to relieving one supporting staff who could then focus on patient care and routine duties, while the staff is required to cover the limitation of “Ah-Po”, such as instrument exceed size and weight limit. The automatic delivery system is worth implementing at units with repeated item delivery processes to various locations.
