DHL Supply Chain has been drafted in to manage new supply chains which will support the build and running of the emergency Nightingale field hospitals across the country. The supply chain operation which would normally take up to 6 months to put in place, was up and running within two weeks, enabling the transformation of ExCeL London into a hospital.
To support the regional emergency hospitals, operations have been set-up in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, and Liverpool, where approximately 3,000 lines of key medical equipment and consumables will be received, stored, picked and delivered straight to the hospitals. In total the sites will handle over 20,000 pallets in the next two months. Patient Monitors and Ultrasound systems will be assembled on-site with the support of manufacturer personnel allowing the equipment to be put into immediate use in current ICU departments or field hospitals.
DHL’s NHS procurement teams have also been supporting the sourcing of COVID-19 equipment and consumables for NHS Trust ICU’s and the Nightingale Field Hospital including Ventilators, Patient Monitoring, Vascular Ultrasound, Mobile X-Ray, Laryngoscopes and CT Scanners. Phased deliveries for the new equipment will run over next two months.
In addition to the work to support the field hospitals, DHL’s Patient Transport team are providing extra non-emergency ambulance services to patients diagnosed with COVID-19. For example, those being cared for in the community with kidney disease, who are especially at risk, are being collected and taken for renal dialysis three times a week.
Source: Deutsche Post DHL Group
