Companies at NETPark enjoy a dynamic, supportive and collaborative environment that acts as a breeding ground for the development of innovative products and services with global impact.
That was certainly the case when inventor and long-term tenant Andy Turner of Quality Hospital Solutions met with site manager Janet Todd to talk about his latest innovative healthcare solution SamplePod, a revolutionary tracking and transport system for pathology samples which could potentially save the NHS £250m a year.
Inventor and Managing Director of QHS, Andrew Turner, designed SamplePod after a large regional Pathology lab highlighted, they wanted to develop a more efficient and time saving way of transporting their samples.
NHS Foundation Trusts receive thousands of samples per day for analysis into their pathology departments, with the samples arriving in many different types and sizes of tubes.
This system uses a tremendous amount of non-recyclable packaging, due to strict regulations in the healthcare industry. Therefore, Andrew was determined to find a solution to reduce waste, drive efficiency and increase capacity.
SamplePod, will remove more than five tonnes of waste from one pathology lab alone.
Andrew Turner said: “SamplePod holds every possible sample size securely and within one pod and can be used time and time again. By eliminating the use of plastic bags and paper request forms it removes more than five tonnes of waste from the process. It is set to revolutionise the way pathology samples are taken, transported and traced worldwide and could potentially reduce NHS costs by £250m per year.”
QHS works in collaboration with South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS, Academic Health and Science Network and industry leading technology partners.
The company teamed up with innovative electronics firm PragmatIC to develop the tracking elem