MP visits Romsey Company to support UK medical industry
Posted: Wednesday, March 21st, 2007
Liberal Democrat MP Mark Oaten saw first hand how a British company is leading the fight against pressure sores, wound infections and superbugs, including MRSA.
The MP for Winchester and the Meon Valley was given a tour of the Talley Group’s headquarters in Premier Way, Romsey, where he saw how huge investment in UK manufacturing is protecting jobs and saving lives.
The company is the UK’s largest privately owned specialist in pressure ulcer prevention and therapy, with clients in the NHS and private sector, and overseas. Over 50 years, their air mattresses have helped prevent and cure wounds on hundreds of thousands of patients, thus denying infections access to the body. The cost to the NHS of treating the most severe cases ranges from £11,000 to as much as £40,000 each, with up to 4 billion of the NHS budget being absorbed by pressure sore related events.
At a time when many medical companies are switching research, development and production overseas to save costs, the Talley Group has invested in new research and development facilities and production equipment, giving them huge flexibility in meeting customers’ needs.
The visit included a demonstration of pressure-relieving mattresses, then Talley Group’s research and design suite, where the latest video capture modelling software is used in product and component design. The company’s vertically integrated manufacturing facility enables everything from design, tooling and component manufacture, to the assembly and testing, to be self-contained.
The tour also took in the busy tooling and moulding departments, where component parts were shown being manufactured and assembled, including a demonstration of CNC Gerber cutting machinery and RF welding technology.
A final tour of Talley Group’s industry-leading decontamination and laundry facility completed the visit, where the MP was shown a “new generation” hygiene service, being used to prevent the spread of superbugs in hospitals, GP surgeries and in carehomes.
Kevin Mearns, Talley Group’s Operations Manager, said:
Mark was impressed that everything could be contained and controlled from the one location, giving the customer a tailored product, and guaranteeing quality all the way down the line, for long-term economy.
…And he was particularly impressed that we clearly demonstrated our commitment to continued investment in research, development and manufacturing.
