QA3 for the QA

Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra Hospital has taken delivery of state-of-the-art patient trolleys - the latest model in Anetic Aid’s QA3 series which was first developed with the hospital more than 30 years ago.

The QA in QA3 stands for ‘Queen Alexandra’ in tribute to the contribution made by the hospital when Portsmouth Surgical Equipment Limited (PSEL), Anetic Aid’s manufacturing base, developed the original model. That was in the 1970s and the hospital was only at the planning stage too. The brief was to create a trolley that would be light weight and easy to manoeuvre with maximum comfort for the patient, whether they were on their journey from a ward to the operating theatre, or being treated in an Accident and Emergency Department.

PSEL founder, Havant-based Ivor Schofield worked with clinical staff on the development - and the first QA trolleys were hailed as considerably ahead of their time when they were delivered to the hospital as it opened its doors in 1979. The design was refined in the eighties with the QA2 – but more radical changes followed in the 1990s with the development of the QA3 v1.0 in 1998 – and more than 80 of these models were eventually in service at the Queen Alexandra.

In 2009 there were changes for the hospital itself when it was rebuilt after ten years of planning, offering patient facilities that are amongst the best in Europe.

But the story doesn’t end there: new materials and technologies are constantly being developed and the company has continued to listen closely to its customers and monitor changing healthcare needs for the next generation of this flagship product. And the result is the QA3 v3.0. Launched a few weeks ago, it takes ease of use, practicality and patient comfort to a new level - and one of the first hospitals to take delivery is the Queen Alexandra in Portsmouth!

Said Mark Archer, who looks after Logistics in the hospital’s Emergency Department: ‘The trolleys have always been good but there is a real difference in this new model. It looks 21st century and it’s a lovely bit of kit – it just does the job.

‘The customer service from Anetic Aid is excellent too, they are always happy to come and talk to us about any aspect of the equipment.’

And the company’s current CEO, Ivor’s son Guy Schofield added: ’It is particularly pleasing for us to be delivering some of the very first models of the QA3 v3.0 trolley to the hospital it was named after. Ten models are now being used in main theatres and a further ten in the Emergency Department.