Howorth Medical Wins Major Contract with Dumfries And Galloway Royal Infirmary August 2007 Howorth Medical has recently started work on a major project at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary. Headed up by main contractor Taylor and Fraser, the project, worth in excess of £2m, will involve an overall upgrade of air conditioning systems throughout the theatre department, with Howorth Medical being responsible for the refurbishment of five theatre suites. Exflow Ventilation System and Membrane Surgeons' Panel Of the five theatres to be refitted and refurbished, two will be upgraded to Ultra Clean, with the installation of Howorth Medical's Exflow 90-5 ventilation system. This means the theatres will be suitable for major orthopaedic surgery. All the new theatres will also benefit from being fitted with ORTV® video installations, enabling them to be used as teaching facilities. An arm-mounted flat panel monitor allows the surgeons to see the local endoscopic image and that from the in-light camera. Both images are then transmitted to a nearby room where the observers can talk to the operating surgeon via the wireless microphone systems. The ORTV® link is ideal for training, mentoring and live operative tuition. The surgeons from Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary were able to tailor the design of the new theatres to their exact requirements by visiting the working OR3G® theatres at the Howorth showroom. This is Howorth Medical's first project with the hospital, and is expected to take forty four weeks. The work is sequenced to allow each theatre to be worked on while the other theatres remain operational, and then handed over and returned to use as completed. This will ensure theatre downtime is kept to a minimum. Lynda McKie, CSSD manager for NHS Dumfries and Galloway, and responsible for overseeing the Theatre Refurbishment Project on behalf of the hospital, commented:
	"The NHS Board is pleased that this major refurbishment project for our main theatre suites will be well underway in the near future. We look forward to working with Howorth Medical on what is a major improvement project. In awarding what is a significant refurbishment project to Howorth Medical, the Board considered that they had demonstrated that they could not only meet the complex operational requirements of maintaining theatre services during the contract period, but also ensure the delivery of modern, fit for purpose, theatre facilities, meeting all the necessary criteria for providing high quality services for our patients well into the future."