Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ) last month released a request for proposals for a new instrument tracking system, initially focused for deployment across Dunedin and Southland hospitals, but expected to be capable of scaling nationally to other regions over time.
The project would directly support the opening of the new Dunedin hospital outpatient building, in October 2026, "by enabling real-time instrument traceability across multiple hospital sites", the request said.
It would be a "critical patient safety system" that would underpin surgical services in Otago and Southland.
Southern operations group director Craig Ashton said the new instrument tracking system would ensure a more efficient process with fewer delays and disruptions.
"These systems are being designed so that they can be adopted by other hospitals without significant redesign, which will make future implementation activity more straightforward."
Every reusable medical device (RMD) and tray would be marked with a barcode.
This barcode could be scanned so medical teams knew the exact location and status of an RMD at each stage of reprocessing "to ensure every instrument is accounted for", Mr Ashton said.
This included tracking each RMD through a validated thermal disinfection and sterilisation cycle.
Individual-level tracking required medical teams to find, match, and count the RMD identification on a particular instrument as listed in the documentation list.
All RMDs would be scanned upon opening, during setup, and prior to exiting theatre after a surgery.
"These processes will significantly reduce the chance of an RMD being unaccounted for."
The new Dunedin hospital outpatient building would also be the first hospital facility to open as "digital hospital infrastructure capable" through a suite of new technologies, Mr Ashton said.
These would include a three-tier software defined network, real-time location systems, messaging integration, unified communications, digital wayfinding, digital signage and complete mobile phone coverage.
Future major hospital redevelopment programmes, such as those occurring at Whangarei and Nelson, were planned to leverage the same capabilities, Mr Ashton said.
