As a member of the Procure4Health Community, Sucha Beskidzka Hospital shares with us the road they have followed to consolidate their position as a reference in patient-centered care, medical innovation, and community health services in the region.
The hospital in Sucha Beskidzka was opened in 1982. It is one of the largest and most modern hospitals in the region. From the beginning of its operation, it enjoys a good reputation, as evidenced by the use of medical services available here not only by local patients, but also by a large group of patients from outside the region.
The services provided by the Sucha Beskidzka Hospital include primary health services, specialist outpatient care, inpatient treatment, emergency care, rehabilitation, long-term care, dialysis and occupational medicine services.
Do you want to get to know more about the expertise of our procurer Sucha Beskidzka Hospital on Innovation Procurement projects?
Keep reading!
Organisations name: Sucha Beskidzka Hospital (ZOZ Sucha Beskidzka)
Name and Surname of the person answering these questions: Marcin Kautsch
Job position in the organisation of the person answering these questions: Project Coordinator
1. What is the experience of your organisation, working on the procurement of innovation?
The Sucha Beskidzka Hospital has participated in 3 projects on innovative procurement, including the P4H. During the first one (EcoQUIP) we worked on the project of improving thermal comfort of patients and personnel. Through the technical dialogue process, we managed to achieve our goal by installing sunscreens above the windows of the southern façade of the main hospital building. It won’t be too modest to say that this was really successful. I was asked on a number of occasions by the EC to present the case during the EC conferences/meetings. Now to be modest, I have to say that we did not invent this solution, but we listened to others. One of the companies proposed the above-mentioned solution, we simply listened to what they proposed, analysed what we could afford and bought it. These awnings are a photovoltaic installation. So not only we provided the solution to the problem, but also now benefit from having lots of energy from renewable sources. It caters to about 10% of our annual electricity consumption. This was done in 2015-2016 and since the technology has changed so rapidly, that if we were to replace the existing installation with the newer one, we would get 20% of the needed energy. I hope and assume, that when this installation is finally replaced, it will give us even more than that.
The second project was a sort of the “offspring” of the first one and was called EcoQUIP+. We followed the same procedure, and we used it to renovate one of the hospital wards. This was not as spectacular as the previous one, but allowed to significantly improve the comfort of stay of the patients.
2. Based on your experience, what are the benefits of procuring innovation in the healthcare sector?
You can talk of many benefits on different levels or in different spheres. I think that the most important one was giving us confidence. Sucha Beskidzka is rather a small hospital. For Poland, it’s slightly bigger than the average, but still, it isn’t big. It’s a general hospital located about 50 km from the nearest big city, serving the local population, and attracting some patients from neighbouring counties. As we checked afterwards, the technical dialogue we used was practically not used in Poland at that time. So, not only were we one of the first to do it, but it turned out to be so successful. And we realized we could do it. So if we could do this, why couldn’t we do other things and seek new challenges? I think it was worth the effort that was needed to accomplish the first project. When we did the second one, things seemed to be much easier. The experience we gained allowed us to talk “on the higher level”, if I may use the term.
The other thing was that we actually did something that worked. So, our effort was not futile. It also gave us a lot.
Finally, we got into the loop of institutions that are successfully winning other EC funded project. Now we are being invited to participate in new calls, which gives some opportunities to secure at least some funds for the hospital development.
3. Not everything must have been a bed of roses, what challenges have you faced when procuring innovation?
I would say that nothing has been a bed of roses. Undertaking such a challenge as the use of innovative procurement methods usually means a substantial change in the way you do things. And any change is difficult. As Machiavelli said: “It ought to be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. This coolness arises partly from fear of the opponents, who have the laws on their side, and partly from the incredulity of men, who do not readily believe in new things until they have had a long experience of them.”
The change is therefore difficult. On the other hand, it’s rewarding, when you succeed. We also have to remember that the change is also inevitable. So, either you try to make a change, which offers you some options, you may plan it and make choices, or somebody forces you to change. The first way is less painful.
If it’s successful, the results ought to compensate or more than compensate the effort that was undertaken. Bear in mind that, if we didn’t change, we would not evolve from early Hominidae into Homo sapiens.
When you introduce new ways of doing things, there is always smaller or bigger resistance. People are hesitant, or lazy, or afraid of trying something new. Changing people’s mentality is the only challenge. When you achieve that, almost all other problems can be solved. I am not saying – solved easily, but still solved.
4. Could you please highlight a successful case on Innovation Procurement your organisation was involved in? (Please, specify if this project was a Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) or a Public Procurement of Innovative solutions (PPI). In this answer you should include a brief description of the project which includes its main goal, duration, budget, funding entity, etc.)
As I mentioned above, we did two such projects so far and are involved in the third one. Both projects were about 4 years long with some prolongation due to problems other partners had or the COVID pandemic. The overall budget of the project was some 3 million euros for the whole consortium, if I can remember well. Our budgets were some 200-300 thousand euros. In both cases, we had to find some additional funds, as the EC gives you only 25% of the actual purchase costs. Therefore, all in all, we are talking about some 400 thousand euros per project.
5. What was the role of your organisation in these projects?
In the first two projects, we were project partners and procurers. Our task was to identify the need and then meet it using innovative procurement methods and arrange the missing funds for the purchase.
6. What unmet needs were addressed?
In the case of the first project, the need number one that was to be addressed and indeed was addressed was the improved thermal comfort of patients and personnel. We do not claim that the problem was fully solved, but there was a substantial change in the temperatures in the building. We do not measure the temperature professionally, so there could have been some mistakes, but to give you an example: during one of the measurements before the installation of the solution the outside temperature was some 29 degrees Celsius, while the inside average temperature was some 26 degrees. Once we installed it, when the outside temperature was 35 degrees Celsius, the temperature inside was some 25. So, there was a difference.
In the second project we wanted to improve the comfort of the patients stay and managed to achieve it. As I mentioned changes were not spectacular, but we introduced many small improvements, which summed up to that big improvement.
7. How was the experience co-creating with innovative suppliers?
From our limited experience we can say that there are rather few innovative suppliers, and the notion of innovative procurement is still new in Poland. It’s very difficult to get any response or interest from the suppliers’ side. Usually, the suppliers do not understand what we want from them, and we give them an opportunity to show something different than what they usually sell. They need to be educated.
