The CEO of Pelonomi Hospital, Mrs Baesi Ramodula and her team launched QCare System, an innovative bed management system solution that is tailor-made for spinal unit patients at Pelonomi Hospital yesterday, 10 October 2019. This is a first of its kind in the country's healthcare system.

Thanks to a team of engineers from Product Development Technology Station (PDTS) at the Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT) for their expertise and collaboration with the hospital and Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) whose generous support has brought this project to fruition.

Unlike imported medical products that do not always solve our healthcare challenges, this system is a locally developed solution to improve patient care. What is so amazing about this tool is that it incorporates a call button which spinal unit patients can use effortlessly to activate an alarm to a nursing station through a wireless network.

“Currently most of the assistive devices in South Africa are imported and provincial hospitals cannot afford them. Through our work we are hoping to make a huge impact on the healthcare sector in the region and beyond”, said Mr Allan Kinnear, Project Engineer: Medical Devices at PDTS. “By creating African solutions for South African challenges, not only do we improve the cost, accessibility and availability, but we create an opportunity for economic growth in the Central Region, he concluded.

Qcare is just one of the medical assistive devices which the team has developed to support Pelonomi Hospital. “I think this is something that sets CUT apart from others. We are small but innovative; we bring much wider variety and diversity into the higher education scene. The stakes have changed and this how the universities' research work must impact on their communities” says CUT spokesperson, Mr Dan Maritz.

Captions

1: CEO of Pelonomi Hospital, Mrs Baesi Ramodula and CUT’s Deputy Director of PDTS, Mr Marinus Potgieter proudly display the newly installed bed management system.

2: Pelonomi team who will be able to improve their workday with the great innovation.

 3: The project team from CUT, TIA and Pelonomi who worked tirelessly to bring the dream to fruition for the hospital.