West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust achieves uptime with Chloride
23 October 2009
80-NET UPS system provides 30 minutes of uptime at full load for critical cardia catheter equipment.
Chloride, one of Europes' leading suppliers of Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems and services, and Stewart Associates, a consultant building design specialists, today announced that Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust is utilising Chlorides' 80-NET UPS system to protect their vital Cardiac Catheter equipment from power disruptions and impurities in the power supply. The system is being used in both acute hospitals within Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust - Birmingham City Hospital and Sandwell General Hospital. Established in April 2002, the Trust employs over 6000 staff, has approximately 1000 beds and serves a population of over 500,000 across western and central Birmingham, Sandwell, and its surrounding areas.
Its staff are trained to meet the communitys' requirements for healthcare services in some of the most diverse and economically deprived communities in the UK. The Cardiac Catheter is used to diagnose the exact site and severity of any narrowing of the coronary arteries. Narrowing of the arteries can severely weaken the blood and oxygen intake of the heart muscle, leading to conditions such as angina, heart failure and other heart conditions.
Stewart Associates’ Managing Director, Steve Mason commented;
“The Cardiac Catheter equipment is a vital piece of equipment for the hospital to diagnose heart related illnesses and diseases. The hospital needed a resilient UPS system to protect the equipment from power disruptions that could have a detrimental effect on patient care.”
The hospital consulted Stewart Associates and, following a review of the equipment and the requirements the hospital had set, it recommended Chlorides' UPS systems as the de-facto solution to support the Cardiac Catheter equipment. Following the consultation phase, Chloride and Stewart Associates deployed a 120kVA 80-NET UPS system. The UPS system has been designed to provide 30 minutes of support at full load in case of a power failure.
Steve continued;
“The system provides valuable uptime in case of a power failure, which allows staff 30 minutes to stabilise a patient should the mains fail. The system has been designed so that the team would not necessarily know that there has been a minor power disruption, as the 80-NET UPS ensures that the system keeps operating without fail.”
Birmingham City Hospital is very familiar with Chlorides' UPS products as it has previously deployed three units for various applications on the hospital grounds. All of the UPS systems, including the new 80-NET unit have been connected to Chlorides' LIFE.net monitoring service to ensure that maintenance issues are detected at the earliest convenience.
SWBH NHS Trust Head of Estates, Rob Banks said;
“Chlorides' UPS systems provide us with continuity and excellent levels of service. We are delighted to be working with two such dynamic organisations that have deployed a solution that provides us with continuous uptime and operation of vital equipment such as the Cardiac Catheter.”
Chlorides' Technical Support Manager, Rob Tanzer said;
“Acute Trusts often have specific requirements for any technologies they deploy and SWBH NHS Trust is no exception. The 80-NET UPS system has been designed to provide utmost resilience against power irregularities. We are delighted to be supporting such a vital piece of equipment at their busy hospitals.”
