Talisman Plastics rises to the challenge of increased NHS demand amidst coronavirus pandemic

Malvern-based injection moulding specialists Talisman Plastics has upped its production to now supply 50 per cent of NHS trusts across the UK, producing an estimated 32 million of its clinical waste ties over the last year.

The clinical waste ties are a crucial part of any hospital’s inventory. Any waste is collected on the ward by the porter and sealed with a clinical waste tag, printed with its own number. If the bag is therefore lost or dropped, it can be identified and traced back to the trust, which fulfils all legal requirements. 

James Mulvale, Business Development Manager at Talisman Plastics, said: “During the peak of the pandemic, understandably every NHS trust we supply wanted to maintain a full stock of our clinical waste ties. Thanks to the increase in our production capacity we were able to meet a monthly order of 30,000 of our Taliloc product, with a reduced lead time to ensure it was received as quickly as possible.”

A monthly standing order is sent directly from Talisman’s Malvern plant to Dorset County Hospital, in Dorchester, which Talisman has been supplying since 2015.

“We have a monthly standing order for 15,000 ties which are delivered to the hospital’s front door. Talisman have been great, quickly responding to any issues and are flexible with our order if there are busier periods in the hospital. They’re a key part of our inventory as without them consigning clinical waste just isn’t possible,” says Ross Cumber, Category Manager at Dorset County Hospital.

“During the pandemic there was a massive shift from what we considered as business as usual hospital operations, to suddenly have to source a lot of machinery and goods, to ensure the hospital was kitted out and ready to treat in a different way.

“The guidance on classifying waste changed, which meant a lot more was going into clinical waste bags. This therefore increased the volume and number of waste ties required, but despite this curveball we had the faith in Talisman that they would continue to deliver their reliable way,” Cumber said.

The main supply of Talisman products to hospitals and surgeries is their waste ties, but their products are also used in securing resuscitation trolleys. Any medication within these needs to be secure but quickly accessible by medical staff. 

Two of Talisman’s 27 machine cells are dedicated to producing this vital NHS equipment. Talisman recently teamed up with Intouch, implementing pioneering cloud-based software that facilitated 24 hour a day production, even over the weekend. 

A five-year investment project leading into the pandemic was brought forward to rapidly deploy brand new machinery to the factory floor. The operational efficiency in creating the NHS-bound seals is 95 per cent, but this target has been matched and even surpassed over recent months. 

“I’m really happy that Talisman rose to the challenge of heightened NHS demand during the coronavirus pandemic. We’re proud of being part of the NHS supply chain, and really happy to be able to supply these important items especially at a time when the whole healthcare industry really needed them,” said Shaun Champion, Managing Director of Talisman Plastics.