Need to know
For #TeamEEAST Last updated: 04 May 2024 at 05:53
During the weekly We Are EEAST Briefing sessions, a number of questions have been raised regarding the cannulas that the Trust currently have in use.
Juliet Beal, Director of Nursing, Clinical Quality and Improvement, will be joining the briefing on Thursday 27th January to update and discuss the provision of cannulas with staff, but in the meantime, the following provides information on the situation to date.
In May 2021, EEAST received a Field Safety Notice (FSN) published to recall Becton Dickinson (BD) Venflon Pro Safety cannula after reports of Ethylene Oxide (EtO) sterilising caused leakage from the injection port, which was shared with staff on Need to Know. An announcement that the Trust would start using the Polysafety-Adva cannulas then followed.
By 9th May all affected BD stock (approx. 90%) had been quarantined and replaced with Polysafety-Adva cannulas, supplied by GBUK Healthcare and by 14th May, all 18 Hub stations had been visited by GBUK Clinical Advisors to offer product support and advice on cannulation technique. Since then, Datix’s have been monitored and trends addressed with further visits from GBUK Clinical Advisors.
In September 2021, a six-month contract was signed with GBUK Healthcare to supply the cannulas. We wish to ensure the Trust can supply our clinicians with the most precise, practical, and safest available cannulas on the market, therefore we will be revisiting the cannula issue as soon as we can safely source them.
The Trust has met with BD to see if they have recovered from their FSN recall. Currently, they would not be in a position to fulfil our orders of size 18g cannula. These are expected to be available in approx. six weeks.
In December 2021 EEAST’s Safety Matters newsletter focused on the ‘new’ cannulas including links to short video clips on techniques to solve common issues.
An average of 10 Datix’s have been received over the last three months relating to cannulas. We have been discussing the possibility of receiving feedback from our clinicians in the form of a questionnaire about their experience with the cannulas to understand the picture across the Trust.
If you have any further questions please email OCE.EEAST@eastamb.nhs.uk and your questions will be answered on the live We Are EEAST Briefing Q&A session, where you can also ask additional questions during the session.
Published 20th January 2022