Tygerberg Hospital's ICU receives helping hand from robots Quintin and Salma

Quintin, an "infection-resistant robot nurse", with fellow health-care workers at Tygerberg Hospital. Picture: Supplied

Quintin, an "infection-resistant robot nurse", with fellow health-care workers at Tygerberg Hospital. Picture: Supplied

Published Jun 24, 2020

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Cape Town - Two robots, called Quintin and Salma, are the newest additions to the nursing staff at Tygerberg Hospital, to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 among colleagues.

The pair are part of a digitisation project between Stellenbosch University and Tygerberg, which aims to improve services in the hospital’s Covid-19 intensive-care unit.

The new system will use cameras and computer tablets to monitor patients and capture their records, replacing the paper-based, manual method.

Quintin and Salma have been described as "infection-resistant robot nurses", assisting intensivists in ICU wards.

The project was made possible courtesy of a grant from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation.

Tygerberg is the first recipient hospital in the province.

Hospital spokesperson Laticia Pienaar said it had recorded 740 confirmed cases of Covid-19, with 417 recoveries and 197 deaths among patients.

The number of confirmed cases among staff are 450, with 257 recoveries and five fatalities.

Jimmy Volmink, dean at Stellenbosch University's Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, said: “Built on the strong partnership between Stellenbosch University and Western Cape provincial health, the project will contribute to improved care for patients with Covid-19, as well as a safer working environment for

health-care workers in the ICU environment.

"This is an investment whose benefits will continue to be felt long after the current pandemic has abated.”

Rector and vice-chancellor Wim de Villiers added: “This is an exciting, innovative example of how Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences is in the vanguard of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, delivering quality care and improving outcomes.

"It is also a quintessential embodiment of the university’s social impact and relevance.”

Brian Allwood, an intensivist working in Tygerberg’s Covid-19 critical-care wards, said: “The safety of hospital staff is our top priority, and although staff are geared with personal protective equipment, it is only comfortable to wear for up to 45 minutes. It is cumbersome to put on and to remove, and thus takes up time. In reducing paperwork, nursing capacity will be freed up to focus on providing high-quality nursing care to patients.”

He said if paper records were replaced with digital record-keeping, as much as 50% of staff infections could be prevented.

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Cape Argus

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