Moffat leads Royal North Shore Hospital into the future

12/May/2013

Press Releases

When Royal North Shore Hospital project (in a public private partnership with Theiss and ISS) recently underwent a major $1.1 billion renovation, they invested in some truly world-class, industry leading equipment. Perhaps the most impressive is a Moffat Burlodge Bpod Meal Delivery System - which is brought to life by a team of wireless AGV robots - or Automated Guided Vehicles.
 

This remarkable new system enables meals to be transported throughout the hospital’s in-patient wards on a daily basis - improving mealtime efficiency, and freeing up hospital staff to focus on other patient services.
 
While AGV robots have been used in Europe for many years, this is the first time they have been installed here in Australia for use in hospitals. Moffat was very excited to be part of this very innovative and exciting development.
 
The AGV robots are used to transport linen, waste and medical records throughout the hospital.  Meals need to be delivered at three specific times per day, with other deliveries spread across a 24 hour period if required.  It’s their capacity to deliver over 2,000 meals a day - via Moffat’s Burlodge Bpod Meal Delivery System - that makes them truly innovative.
 
The Burlodge Bpod Meal Delivery System is comprised of a series of ‘pods and base stations’ - each of which regenerates and maintains meals at the correct core temperature for both the hot and cold menu items on the patient tray. When they’re loaded up and ready to leave the kitchen, the pods are removed from the base station by a staff member and moved to the sender station located within the kitchen. A smart card reader then detects the pod and calls the AGV. The AGV slides under the pod, picks it up and transports it to a receiver station elsewhere in the hospital.
 
The robots transport entire trolleys between floors of the hospital - and have the ability to ‘call’ a lift, enter it, and select a floor. Once it has reached its designated drop-off area (the receiver station), each trolley is met by a staff member who then delivers individual meal trays to the patient bed side.
 
Importantly, the AGV robots also have the ability to avoid patients and staff through their motion sensor detection technology. They can also ‘talk’ - issuing the warning: ‘attention, automatic transport. Please step aside’.
 
The investment in the Burlodge Meal Delivery System and AGV robots was part of a $1.1 billion three-year investment, and makes Royal North Shore Hospital one of the largest and most extensively equipped hospitals in NSW.
 
It is also an incredibly impressive step into the future and Moffat is very proud to be leading the way in terms of healthcare innovation here in Australia.