Foundation’s $128K gift to save valuable time for theatre staff

The demanding workload for our Grampians Health surgery team at Horsham will be lessened with the purchase of new Endobase camera stack systems.

Wimmera Health Care Group Foundation purchased a $64,000 Endobase system to replace the previous system which was more than 12 years old. Now the Foundation has committed to upgrading a second camera stack system at a further cost of $64,000.

Endobase is an integrated IT system that records and documents all endoscopy information in the one database. The surgeon, using a range of different ‘scopes’, views the gastro intestinal tract to assess for health issues such as cancer, inflammation, ulcers and other health conditions – or to assist with surgery.

The new system ‘talks’ directly with the patient’s digital medical record and provides direct entry to that record, saving staff hours of making manual recordings and hand-writing reports.

Operating Suite ANUM Amie Ampt said the system would also improve the quality of the images saved in patient records.
“The system collects and records all the health information including photos of what they see and collates this into a document that is stored directly in the patient medical record,” Ms Ampt said.

“This is then able to be printed for information to the patient, provided back to the referring doctor or sent onto further specialists if required. It also stores the images so that they are easily available to go back and review at any time to compare or review progress and healing.

“The system also tracks the specific piece of equipment that was used to perform the procedure from a reprocessing perspective so that if there is ever an issue with an individual piece of equipment, it will provide a report on every patient on whom it has been used.”

WHCG Foundation chair Graeme Hardman said the Foundation was pleased to be able to continue to make important contributions to the Horsham and Dimboola hospitals, improving the level of health care available in the region and assisting the hard-working staff of the group.