UK medtech group scores £14 million MOD contract

The Ministry of Defence has awarded a £14 million  contract for medical monitors to Hampshire-based company RDT.

The new agreement will see the delivery of around 900 compact vital signs Tempus Pro monitors, which will enable the UK military to manage medical incidents in the remote and challenging locations in which they regularly operate.

RDT says that Tempus Pro consolidates several functions onto one system, allowing the armed forces to provide care in challenging environments.

The monitors will be deployed on medical evacuation vehicles and aircraft, battalion aid stations, hospital ships, field hospitals by special operations teams.

This award is the latest in a long line of successes for RDT, which has achieved 60% growth in the last 12 months. RDT is a significant exporter, generating more than 60% of its revenue from international sales.

Maria Miller, MP for Basingstoke, said: “RDT is a ground-breaking company and its success in securing this contract demonstrates the strong entrepreneurial, engineering and technological talent available in Basingstoke.

“This talent pool supports a thriving hub of high growth, high tech businesses in the town.

“The contract will sustain over 60 jobs at RDT’s local facility and has helped in the creation of 20 new roles. I congratulate Graham and his team on this tremendous achievement.”

Over the next five years, the MOD will replace all existing monitors with the Tempus Pro system. RDT has already delivered 444 monitors to the armed forces.

Minister for defence procurement Harriett Baldwin said: “Our Armed Forces serve with incredible commitment and bravery, and the new Tempus Pro monitor will ensure that they will receive the best possible care and treatment should they be wounded or taken ill on operations.

“Backed by our rising defence budget and our £178 billion equipment plan, our investment in these cutting-edge medical monitors demonstrates how we are working with our NATO allies to provide lifesaving equipment to our frontline personnel.”

Before awarding the contract, the Defence Equipment and Support organisation (DE&S) conducted an intensive year-long, multi-discipline monitor evaluation process that saw the system deployed and rigorously tested in extremely harsh and challenging locations. Traditionally, several various monitor types have had to be used at different levels of care in the patient pathway.

RDT says that the UK MOD is now able to standardise on one monitor to provide streamlined medical support and critical patient care information from the battlefield onwards.

This means the Record of Care of all sick and injured patients can easily move with them as they progress through different levels of care, and ultimately be saved into their permanent patient record.

A single monitoring solution has been an objective of the UK military for some time, according to RDT.

Graham Murphy, RDT CEO, said: “We are incredibly proud to be providing the Tempus Pro to our Armed Forces, who do such important work to keep us all safe.

“One of the reasons the Tempus Pro is being adopted by the UK and many other NATO militaries is because of its unique ability to be enhanced in the field as new technologies emerge or needs evolve.

“The world is an ever-changing place and this flexibility is important to all our customers.

“To that end, RDT has an exciting set of new features in development to which the MOD will have full access as they become available.”