Mistakes can happen, but how you respond makes all the difference.
We recently supplied smart lighting to Lewisham Hospital for use in their operating theatres. After installation, it became clear that one of the fittings had been supplied with incorrect driver settings. The result was a significant reduction in light output, a critical issue in a clinical environment.
With procedures scheduled imminently, we wanted to ensure the operating theatre was functional, so the fix would have meant a full weekend shift to open up the sealed space, sending in two electricians, bringing in a decorator to make good, having a hospital representative on site throughout and a deep clean afterwards. This would have been costly, time-consuming, and risked disrupting patient care.
We wanted to investigate whether it could be solved another way?
Working with our partners at Mymesh and Tridonic, we explored whether the driver settings could be corrected over the mesh network, avoiding physical access to the fitting and without the need to visit site. Together, we isolated the required DALI instructions, overcame several technical challenges, and developed a way to push a remote firmware update across the wireless system.
By the next morning, the hospital team cycled the power to the fittings, and it worked. The driver settings updated successfully, light output tripled, and the operating theatre remained untouched.
This is a great example of how using smart lighting in hospitals and collaboration can deliver great outcomes.
