Case sustainability | Silentia
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Case sustainability

Before and after: Wheelbase in new design replaces worn wheels after 13–14 years of use. Now the mobile screens are just like new again.

Hospital equipment is expensive. Choose equipment with a long technical lifetime and maintain it regularly. By creating a culture of good maintenance, you can delay the need to buy new.

Hospitals can make better use of resources by ensuring their equipment has a longer lifetime. Sustainable procurement is about conscientious purchasing decisions. Maintaining and reusing equipment as much as possible rather than replacing it – and daring to reject to buy equipment that is impossible to repair or more expensive to maintain than buying new.

Technical life of 10 years – and longer

As a supplier, Silentia is conscious about sustainability. We collaborate with hospitals regarding maintenance of our products. Our folding screen system can easily be updated with new fittings and wheels.

Silentia’s folding screens have a technical life of at least 10 years, and even longer when well-maintained. But nothing lasts forever, not even our products, so Silentia gladly offers advice on how to manage a consecutive replacement.

New folding screens to replace old screens at Rigshospitalet Glostrup, Denmark. The new screens easily click into place on the existing wall mounts – simple and practical.

Regular maintenance is good economy

At Rigshospitalet Glostrup, Denmark´s leading hospital, service workshop technician Henrik Lischang has systematised the main­tenance of the hospital’s equipment. Among other things, he has introduced an annual inspection of the hospital’s 250 folding screens.

“In the past, we repaired the equipment when it broke down. Today we set aside time and resources for systematic maintenance. Tightening and adjustment are quicker than repairs. And cheaper. Our time expenditure, spare parts and repair costs have dropped significantly,” says Henrik.

“Inspection and adjustment are quicker than repairs. And cheaper.”

“It definitely pays off to make efforts to extend the life of the equipment. Folding screens are costly to buy, but this cost is quickly earned back because the screens make the staff’s work easier and more efficient by being durable, quick to clean and easy to use.”

Sustainable moving processes

When relocating, renovating or building hospitals, there are often limited funds available for equipment procurement. Consequently, it is important to identify which equipment should be reused and ensure that it is maintained.

As a supplier, Silentia are often involved in processes of moving existing folding screens to new buildings in close cooperation with the hospital’s project group. We provide a smooth workflow, removal, quality checks of existing screens and installation in the new departments. We also supply new screens that we install as and when the premises are completed. Reusing inventory simply requires commitment, planning and knowledge of the equipment and the options available.

Passionate about reusing equipment

The Central Hospital in Kristianstad is one of the largest hospital complexes in the south of Sweden. The healthcare staff reuses furniture and equipment.

“We can’t throw away equipment that still works. We must think about recycling instead of buying new,” says Helen Andersson, interior designer and coordinator of circulating furniture and equipment. She is passionate about re­using equipment.

“We must think about recycling instead of buying new.”

Recently, Helen found ten Silentia folding screens that were not in use. They had been purchased in 2010 and were as good as new. The screens where photographed and put on the intranet for staff to see the available stock. Soon the screens were ordered by Catarina Lindberg at the cardiac intensive care unit at Lund Univer­sity Hospital. “For hygiene reasons we no longer use fabric drapes, so I looked for folding screens on the intranet and ordered all ten folding screens at once.”

Silentia updated the folding screens by adding new wheels, a wall mount and a screen wheelbase. The screens are now in use again – and the hospital saved quite a lot of money.

5 effective ways to sustainable procurement

  • Focus on technical lifetime and repair economy right from the procurement phase.
  • Make sure it is easy and economical to get spare parts to maintain the equipment.
  • Require suppliers to provide regular service checks on the equipment.
  • Select scalable products that allow for alterations and adaptation to future needs.
  • Choose suppliers who can offer solutions for reusing equipment in relocation projects.

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