Total commitment to health: the team from Messer Italia.
In the 2008 financial year, numerous measures were taken to establish the company’s European medical gases business. It was necessary to implement European laws and guidelines while at the same time taking account of country-specific factors. Both these elements have led to the creation of a corporate Messer standard. The necessary conditions have been created to enable Messer to develop into a full service provider in the area of medical oxygen supply and respiration right across Europe and to service the institutional care and home care markets.
Messer has developed new markets and built up sales in the home care sector in selected countries, resulting in an 8 per cent increase in turnover compared with 2007. A Group-wide Pharmacovigilance System has been implemented. This system ensures the continual and systematic monitoring of drug safety, which includes medical gases. The aim is to identify and analyse undesirable effects straight away in order to guarantee drug safety at all times.
The existing Good Manufacturing Practice System, or GMP for short, has been further expanded and improved. GMP encompasses guidelines that are used to ensure quality in the production of drugs and medical products. Integrating internal revision into the quality assurance system was an important element of this expansion. Furthermore, a working group was set up to redefine the workflows within the Messer Group. In future, the focus will be on the validation and documentation of the workflows involved in the production of medical gases from air separation plants.
The new Snowline technology has also been in use in the CHR hospital centre in Strasbourg (France) since May 2008. The system allows ready-cooked dishes to be cooled and heated up. The system, which was developed by Messer in collaboration with its hardware partner, Electrocalorique, consists of special high-quality heatable and coolable containers as well as a liquid carbon dioxide filling station, which uses dry ice to deliver the required cooling effect.
In Italy, Messer Medical focuses on providing full-service home care (ADIR) which helps many patients avoid having to go to hospital. The home care specialists have developed a concept that goes far beyond the supply of medical oxygen. Anyone with an illness wants to be free from the limitations that their illness places on their quality of life. Messer Italia has been offering patients with respiratory and metabolic diseases an integrated home delivery and care service in collaboration with its partners. This service covers oxygen therapy, breathing therapy and physiotherapy as well as the monitoring of vital parameters and patient care. This allows patients to continue living at home.
In the medical sector, Messer Schweiz has signed a framework agreement with dedica, an association of 14 hospitals and care centres in the Bern region, regarding the supply of medical gases. Several smaller and larger hospitals (Spitalnetz Bern, Triemli) have also been signed up as new customers.