Innovation in the Department of Anaesthetics

The Department of Anaesthetics is widely recognised for it’s ability to collaborate with industry, other academic schools and institutions and the National Health Service to successfully bid for grants and develop new products to improve patient safety.  There are many examples of successful collaborations.

It has created innovative products that help to improve patient safety, such as the Hall-Lock system, developed during collaboration with the equipment manufacturer Flexicare.  The Hall Lock is a technology that prevents equipment misconnections and reducing the potential to cause patient harm.

Collaborating with equipment manufactures and partners in the NHS, we are currently developing an epidural training simulator that has many novel features.  A prototype built and developed by a local Wales manufacturer is currently being evaluated by clinical partners in the NHS. The aim is to build upon our wealth of experience and expertise in simulation teaching techniques to build a high-fidelity simulator that will help to develop essential skills in trainee anaesthetists without harming patients.

Dr Alison Paul and her team from the School of Chemistry are currently working with us to develop novel ways of administering anaesthetics that are simpler, cheaper and safer than present systems.  This collaboration has helped us to rethink how anaesthetics and analgesics are administered, and has the potential to produce truly disruptive technologies that develop new markets and create further research opportunities in the process.

These and other collaborations build upon the department’s traditional strengths in innovation, patient safety and education.

Dr Brian Jenkins