The district has been busy receiving a large amount of new medical equipment as it prepares for a possible surge in people needing care as a result of COVID-19.

Senior Biomedical Engineer, Melvin Mazid, from the district’s Clinical Technology Service said he had seen the equivalent of two years’ worth of deliveries of medical equipment in the last four to six weeks.

“We have seen a variety of medical equipment such as syringe drivers, infusion pumps, humidifiers, non-invasive ventilators, vital signs monitors and ultrasounds. And much more is expected including new ventilators,” he said.

“It is not as simple as the new equipment just being delivered straight to the ward. The Clinical Technology Service team need to unpack it and make sure it is safe for clinical use.

“We also need to undertake performance verification, configuration, and installation of the equipment and register it on a clinical technology equipment database for its life-cycle management before it is distributed to hospitals across the district.

“This can take an hour to two hours for each item of equipment so it has been keeping the team very busy over the last four to six weeks."

In addition, the team has also been involved in other activities such as, procurement and relocation of medical equipment to allow reconfiguration of wards to meet the predicted COVID-19 peak.