Graduate from Falmouth University designs sustainable ‘Olly the Octopus’ intravenous (IV) pole for the RCHT

Florence Mitchell is a graduate from Falmouth University. Towards the end of her 3-year degree in sustainable product design, Florence began to design and create ‘Olly the Octopus’ – a child friendly intravenous (IV) pole.

Made with recycled Polypropylene gowns from the hospital using the Sterimelt process, ‘Olly’ is designed to be both engaging and child friendly and is also made to be completely taken apart and easily repaired if broken – something that aims to further reduce levels of waste.

Speaking about how the project came about, Florence said: “Towards the end of my second year, I really found the love for medical design. As I went into my third year, I decided I wanted this to be my focus, and I began working on ‘Olly’ in January.”

“I started by looking at problems that might be encountered around sustainability in our hospitals. I didn’t want to design something that didn’t have a functional need, so I began interviewing lots of lovely members of staff around Royal Cornwall Hospital. From these interviews, one of the key issues we arrived at was the need to completely redesign our IV Poles. Currently, standard IV poles break very easily. Once broken, they need to be completely thrown out and then bought again new.”

“Each tentacle represents a core value of the NHS as well as the two sustainability goals that it’s working towards,” Florence continues. “Another part of the design for ‘Olly’ was to make sure the IV could be easily taken on and off by staff on the wards, and that the pole was strong enough to hold the weight. So ‘Olly’ was designed to hold 3 times more than the current weight of a standard IV hook.”

Speaking about the design for ‘Olly,’ Florence explains: “I felt like he needed to be engaging. To not just be a static thing that stands in the corner, but to bring him to life a bit. I was thinking about a toy I’d once seen that came with a Kinder Egg. The toy had something you could scan, and it made the toy move. I thought that was a cool idea, and I thought it would be awesome if we could make that into an app where ‘Olly’ comes to life. Not only in a way that he moves, but more interactively, where kids can take their medication with him and feed him and maybe we can bring an element into this where parents can also log on and see how their kids are doing in terms of their mood. So, it was something that could potentially relieve some of that anxiety for parents as well as making the experience for kids more engaging.”

Florence now hopes to be able to improve ‘Olly,’ making him even more sustainable in terms of the materials used and is looking to further develop the idea for wider use.

“I’d really love to see ‘Olly’ in hospitals, if possible,” Florence adds, “just to further develop and improve him. It would be great to improve the material a bit more. This has been such a rewarding project to work on. Being at Falmouth university has been incredible. It’s been an inspiring experience, and I couldn’t have picked a better place to study.”

Kelly Mengham, Ward Sister for the Gastro and Liver Unit, helped Florence set up the project during the early stages. She explains: “I was introduced to Florence when she was researching ideas for a sustainability project. From this, we started exploring her ideas about IV drip poles and ways of making them. I explained that many of the poles would break easily and be unable to be fixed, leaving them to end up as waste. What started as a cost saving and recyclable idea, has evolved into so much more.”

Kelly continues: “The concept Florence has developed with ‘Olly’ not only benefits the physical treatment of patients as a piece of equipment involved in their care, but it also crosses over into the paediatric section, including children’s mental health and their engagement with the medical service. The accessibility of being able to develop much needed equipment on a large scale for a fraction of the price is highly desirable in the current climate, but it also fulfils our nursing vision of innovation and the RCHT’s wider goal of sustainability. I can only say congratulations to Florence on such an outstanding product and successful project. I can’t wait to see Olly in action!”