A new form of packaging produced by Covidien takes into account the numerous demands and concerns of hospitals in their efforts to maximise efficiency. This tailor-made solution promises several benefits that will certainly appeal to medical institutions and their staff
Covidien understands the many pressures hospitals face – in particular the growing demand for greater efficiencies that do not compromise the quality of patient care, and the increasing economic constraints that necessitate new and improved strategies to achieve such efficiencies.
The Covidien Custom Procedure Tray has been designed with these pressures in mind. Through the provision of a single, customisable tray of high-quality, disposable instruments and its ‘total service partnership’ approach, Covidien can offer an efficient, sustainable and added-value solution for laparoscopic surgery needs, meaning hospitals can focus on enhancing patient outcomes.
The tray can be packed according to the individual needs of hospitals, surgeons or surgical teams, drawing on a comprehensive range of Covidien instruments and surgical products, meaning you can compile of a full or a partial tray of disposable instruments as required. If your hospital uses a combination of disposable and reusable instruments, you can order partial trays.
Each cavity of the tray is moulded specifically for an individual instrument or product and, with clear labelling for instant identification, ensures that the correct combination of equipment is packaged expertly for transport and that a high-quality product reaches theatre. This also provides considerable benefits in terms of maximising efficiency in the management of an operating theatre.
Greener manufacturing and shipping
This landmark offering has the potential to transform the way operating theatres are managed, but also promises environmental advantages such as reducing waste and costs.
The tray is designed to make efficient use of raw materials, thus lowering the energy required for manufacturing, packaging and shipping, as well as cutting down on waste. Furthermore, ordering Covidien Custom Procedure Trays can reduce delivery miles compared with ordering individual instruments with complex order patterns, providing the potential to reduce the hospital’s carbon footprint and save on delivery costs.
Compared with individually packaged instruments, Covidien uses 20% less material in the production of its Custom Procedure Trays, and 36% less for the shipping boxes. The trays also take up to 16% less shelf space than individual packs.
The high-quality instruments are provided in one custom-moulded, compact, easy-to-access, sterile tray, removing the need to select, unpack and unwrap multiple sets of individual instruments. As well as simplifying procedures in theatre, this could also help to minimise the risk of compromising the sterility of the environment.
The result is that these trays can cut general waste by 50% per procedure, thus reducing your carbon footprint, as well as waste incineration and disposal costs. The recyclable material can be processed with no charge. Other savings incurred include order delivery and processing costs.
Trash talk
This ability to cut down on waste was proven in a study involving theatre staff at St Mary’s and Charing Cross hospitals, where the amount of packaging waste placed into general waste and recycling bags (about 90L bags) was estimated by volume. The measurements of packaging waste showed a decrease in the quantity of general waste (9% of a bag) and an increase in the amount of recycling waste (17% of a bag) when using the trays.
Waste incineration is harmful to the environment and extremely costly. Reducing the volume of waste per procedure allows hospitals to minimise these costs – supporting the drive by health authorities to deliver cost-efficient services – and carbon emissions – supporting the global drive towards a greener planet.
