Digitising ventilation system verifications

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A fully digital approach to verification is reshaping how critical ventilation systems are managed, helping estates teams move from reactive maintenance to improved system availability and lifecycle performance. Stephen Bartlett, director at Invigilatis, is the product architect of Seeker Ventilation – the first fully digital verification solution for critical ventilation system. He argues that digitised processes ensure consistent and more timely reporting, clearer compliance information, and stronger alignment with evolving legal requirements. As technology advances and datasets grow, AI-driven benchmarking and predictive insights will further enhance the management of these vital systems.

Currently, under HTM 03-01, it is expected that critical ventilations systems are inspected quarterly, and verified at least annually, to provide the healthcare provider’s ventilation stakeholders with the required assurance for their patients’ safety. Given the expected life of ventilation assets is 20 years, some are likely to become less reliable as they approach the end of their useful lives. Therefore, more frequent verifications are required.

However, provided AHUs are well maintained and any risks are understood, even those which are approaching/beyond the end of their useful lives may continue to operate safely, thus delaying the expensive cost of replacement.

Pace of technology

Digitisation enables the verifications of critical ventilation system to be completed in much less time; more frequently; with much less effort, and distributed to stakeholders rapidly. Therefore, as the pace of technology change continues to accelerate, fully digital verifications will replace today’s traditional approach with its subsequent manual preparation of a detailed report, which is both time consuming and costly.

With NHS budgets becoming even tighter, it is inevitable that a digital approach to verifications will be regarded as essential, both to provide timely assurance and to optimise the asset life cycles.

Digitisation also improves all aspects of reporting because access to the verification outcomes is more immediate and the automated aggregation of the verification data provides users with holistic views of their annual verifications, which then enables them to communicate more easily with their peers and:

Plan comprehensive maintenance programmes rather than just dealing with urgent remedials reactively.
Identify components that are likely to be more prone to early failures.
Make better procurement decisions at both operational and strategic levels.

Digitising the entire verification process is the next significant digital transformation now there is widespread deployment of sensors, both to monitor the performance of ventilation assets, and to minimise their energy consumption which then aids the achievement of Net Zero. By adopting this smarter way of working:

Healthcare providers benefit from having better assurance that their critical ventilation systems are working effectively and patients can be cared for in safer environments.
Estates teams benefit from savings on both costs and time. As well as increasing their visibility and levels of compliance, prompt reporting enables them to improve maintenance regimes, so by adopting some of the best managerial practices they can improve overall performance of these critical systems and asset availability.
Improvements in the overall approach to maintenance can then facilitate the reduction of downtime, thus making more effective use of scarce clinical resources.

Fully digital

Seeker Ventilation from Invigilatis provides the first of these fully digital verification systems. It consists of an app; automated reporting, and results database with dashboards and charting which are accessible 24/7 via a cloud-based portal. These closely integrated components provide a radically new way of handling verifications. Both contractors and internal staff can deliver high quality verifications with the possibility of immediate reporting in a standard format based on HTM 03-01. Overall, considerable operational improvement can be achieved because:

Data capture is simpler with real time checks of measurements and compliance.
Reporting can be immediate.
Users have holistic views on compliance for all suites and AHUs.
Internal reporting can be automated, so removing the need for the manual aggregation of individual verification reports.
All ventilation stakeholders can access the portal 24/7 to view real time data.
Cloud-based access improves visibility and use — any-time, anywhere.

These digital transformations provide opportunities to:

Save on administration, maintenance and capital outlays.
Optimise asset life cycle management by achieving incremental/marginal gains which improve asset availability and benefit all stakeholders.

Better quality data — Digital data capture

Digital data capture improves the overall data quality of the verification measurements and observations. In addition, it enables ease of handling the data and integration with multiple systems and user access devices. It also reduces the time taken on each verification.

The app’s workflows ensure the verification process and outcomes are fully validated throughout the hours taken to verify each ventilation system (AHU, ducting and Suite) and data quality is assured with:

Prompts on each measure to indicate compliance and rules-based intelligence checks to ensure reasonable results have been captured and non-compliant data will be highlighted.
Guidance on the supporting information required which ensures appropriate comments are available in the reports.
Photo reminders and restrictions so all photos are taken on site and not selected from galleries of previously captured images.
Sketches are available for schematics and other remedial notes.
Bluetooth which ensures there can be no transcription errors for measured data.

Mandatory reviews are also performed before each verification can be signed off. This final step ensures there are neither omissions nor issues needing further investigation, which might then extend the lengthy data-capture process and delay the final report.

Time savings — Automated reporting

Digitisation provides a single digital source of all the captured verification data which can be reused without needing to have its accuracy checked. Automation allows pre-formatted reports to be prepared from that data without having to check for transcription errors. (N.B. We do recommend that all reports are subject to a reasonableness review before they are issued/published).

The entire reporting process can be transformed because automation also ensures entirely consistent reports are produced, irrespective of the engineer. Without digitisation, it usually takes days to produce each report because the extensive sets of data captured during the verification must be transcribed accurately and it is essential to check and ensure this has been achieved.

In addition to the formal reporting, digitised verification data can be:

Accessed easily 24/7 from the cloud-based portal.
Presented as dashboards and alerts which minimise the time required to digest the information.

This easy access to prompt information aids the assimilation of the verification outcomes which then enables faster progress on remedials, so optimising theatre availability and improving patient safety.

Savings and improved performance — Aggregated data

The aggregation and associated analysis of the verification data is also automated in a fully digital solution like Seeker Ventilation. These automations save the time spent by experienced staff manually generating reports for their peers and other ventilation stakeholders. (N.B. Due to extreme pressure in many estates teams, it is not unknown for the time consuming reporting task to be sacrificed in order to deal with urgent operational matters).

The improved consistency of reporting and real time availability of 24/7 access enables trend reviews which benefit future panning — the latest report can be compared easily with previous information to facilitate maintenance and replacement regimes.

Seeker Ventilation provides a real time source of information which is always up to date and the portal enables all users to interrogate the aggregated data through three key dashboards which provide real time managerial overviews, see Figure 1.

Easy access to the aggregated verification data saves many hours of management time which can be used to improve productivity and deliver strategic benefits improved maintenance planning and asset life cycle management.

Designated staff are required to possess sufficient skills, knowledge and experience to perform their designated tasks. Digitised verifications will supplement those personal attributes and enable all the designated staff to work even more effectively, ensuring they can be extremely productive with easy access to the wealth of verification data accumulated and held in a digital solution. As well as benefitting from simplified data capture, the measurements and photos will enable them to review how assets and their performance changes over time.

Competent Person — CP(V)

CP(V)s can use the app to capture information from periodic testing of ventilation systems and ensure quarterly records are maintained of that periodic testing, which enables managers to confirm this key responsibility is being fulfilled satisfactorily.

Authorised Person — AP(V)

AP(V)s have full and immediate visibility of the rolling annual verification schedule and remedials. So rather than reacting to results delivered several weeks after verification and then having to share with colleagues, APVs can adopt more proactive and structured ways of working such as 12 week pre verification planning recommended by GPTConsult. By preparing for verifications, non compliances can be identified and remediated ahead of the actual verification. This ensures there is minimal need for reverifications which provides real saving and optimises theatre availability

Authorising Engineer — AE(V)

AE(V)s role involves them covering many specialist tasks including reviewing the annual verification programme and the associated risks. Therefore, with access to the portal to review the dashboards and the drill downs into the detail of verification responses, they can complete their review process easily without needing to consolidate information manually for each verification to identify overall risks, trends and potential problems.

“Seeker’s overview dashboard and the extremely quick report turnaround ensure both me as an AE(V) and my clients improve their levels of safety and compliance,” says Mike Dunne BEng (Hons), IEng, MSVHsoc, TMIET, ACIBSE, FIHEEM.

Infection prevention and control

IPC are focused on preventing healthcare-associated infections and the full dataset of verification information is available from a digital verification solution enables them to:

Monitor suite verification histories easily and assess microbiological performance trends.
Review the aggregated information and provide holistic assessment of risks.
Ventilation safety group

Ventilation safety groups (VSG) ensure their  healthcare provider can demonstrate that it has suitable governance, competence and accountability arrangements in place to provide safe critical ventilation systems and appropriate clinical environments in their premises by:

Assessing all aspects of ventilation safety and resilience required for the safe development and operation of healthcare premises.
Prioritising the replacement programme and avoiding unplanned system failures and the consequent cancellation or disruption to patient services.

Seeker Ventilations’ holistic view of verification provides the essential transparency which ensures:

Decisions affecting the resilience, safety and integrity of the ventilation systems and associated equipment can be taken by the VSG in conjunction with the appropriate experts.
Policies are being adhered to and Patient Safety focus on continuous improvement can be achieved.
Duty holder/ Designated person

Duty holders are fully assured the verification requirement is being fulfilled and the availability of critical ventilation systems is being optimised.

Ultimately, all designated staff benefit from digitised verifications which ensures that Trusts and Healthcare providers can be confident that:

Critical Ventilation Systems are safe.
Maintenance is improved.
Costs minimised.
Better management of remedials

Seeker Ventilation enables users to track remedials on every verification and this holistic information provides a comprehensive overview of the maintenance history for critical systems, suites and AHUs.

Planning immediate maintenance and longer-term programmes

With the information from quarterly inspections, pre verification checks and verifications, maintenance to be planned and scheduled, so reducing the need for immediate reactive interventions. This smarter approach minimises non-compliance and will optimise theatre availability.

Dashboards provide comprehensive risk-rated information about compliance which enables APs to plan maintenance programmes for the critical ventilation systems to minimise cost of work and to ensure their life cycles can be optimised.

Trend analysis for longer term planning

As yearly data accumulates Seeker’s detailed charts summarise trends and progression towards better levels of compliance. This periodic information can be used to inform maintenance and re-placement planning, again optimising availability and asset life cycles.

Strategic benefits from digitising verification

Digitised verifications enable all ventilation stakeholders to access holistic information and so they can communicate more easily with their peers. This improved access to verification information enables better collaborative strategic decisions to be made:

Patient safety issues are well understood, which ensures maximum number of high tariff operations can be delivered.
Remedial monitoring is real time, which ensures Life Cycle Management trends can be monitored closely to deliver Continuous improvement goals as per NHS Improvement’s latest guidance.

UK’s evolving legal environment

While the 1974 Health and Safety at Work Act provides core legislation that applies to the safety of working with ventilation installations, more recent legislation is increasingly placing more emphasis on owners to fulfil their obligations to provide safe environments for staff, occupants, contractors and visitors.

For example, ISO 45001 extended duty of are to contractors and the Fire Safety Act 2021, along with the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022, which forms the basis of the current fire safety legislation in the UK, requires a Golden Thread of information so everyone has better access to information.

Ensuring the availability and appropriate use of information is essential to avoid serious litigation, as was seen this year when a North East London Trust faced a charge of corporate manslaughter because incidents had neither been properly recorded nor assessed, and there were also concerns about staff members’ communication and the development of their leadership skills.

As corporate safety legislation continues to evolve, it will be essential for Trusts and other Healthcare providers to maintain a bank of secure and consistent data to ensure compliance and defend litigious claims.

Seeker Ventilation’s unique digital approach to verifications, with easy and immediate access to essential information which can impact on patient safety, will ensure Trusts can demonstrate that their legal obligations have been discharged satisfactorily.

Conclusion and opportunities

Digitising verifications is a key driver of important changes:

Improved processes and reduced costs.
Operational and functional benefits to ensure patient safety.
Strategic gains which optimise ROI.

Aligned with legislative changes and increasing NHS focus on a culture which fosters improvement, particularly for patient safety, digitised verifications also provide opportunities to:

Satisfy and support many best practices with comprehensive logbooks which are key for ESG reporting.
Achieve incremental gains in support of continuous improvement.
Meet the requirements of ISO55000 and improve asset management.

Digitising ventilation system verifications

Pace of technology

Fully digital

Better quality data — Digital data capture

Time savings — Automated reporting

Savings and improved performance — Aggregated data

Competent Person — CP(V)

Authorised Person — AP(V)

Authorising Engineer — AE(V)

Ventilation safety group

Duty holder/ Designated person

Planning immediate maintenance and longer-term programmes

With the information from quarterly inspections, pre verification checks and verifications, maintenance to be planned and scheduled, so reducing the need for immediate reactive interventions. This smarter approach minimises non-compliance and will optimise theatre availability.

Trend analysis for longer term planning

Strategic benefits from digitising verification

UK’s evolving legal environment

Further reading

IHEEM

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