Canute’s Medical Division Launches Plans To Take Unique Service Global
Canute International Medical Services (CIMS) have recently announced their plans to grow their offering on a global scale over the next 12 months.
Set up in 2005, CIMS provides turnkey solutions to the Diagnostic Imaging industry, offering a range of specialist services including transportation, engineering, warehousing, remarketing and installation of diagnostic medical equipment.
The firm began its operation by supplying engineering services into the NHS and taking unwanted large equipment items such as MRI body scanners back to their warehouse facility to remarket them to private buyers in emerging markets all over the world.
When the NHS approached the CIMS division to take away other second-hand medical equipment, a number of Primary Care Trusts followed suit and utilized CIMS’ unique offering of removing, storing and remarketing unwanted products. This specialised service also enabled end users including the NHS to profit from this equipment, driving funds back into the healthcare service.
Markus Grad, Business Development Director at CIMS, said: “There are a significant number of benefits to healthcare providers in using our services. In addition to generating revenue, there is no drop in item value as we have the logistical capability of a large fleet of vehicles and the facilities to collect and store items immediately, rather than asking hospitals to store their equipment for up to 6 months until they can be removed in batches.”
The demand for this service gave CIMS a competitive environment around which they could remarket and resell these products, which triggered the launch of monthly medical auctions at their 38,000 sq. ft. Wokingham facility where buyers could bid on equipment in person or online via the i-bidder platform.
In addition to remarketing the products, CIMS offer a number of additional service provisions including wiping data from equipment hard drives to ensure it can’t be released into the public domain, and CIMS take full liability on all equipment they resell.
Customers can test equipment before buying and each auction sees up to 150 buyers bidding either in person or online via live webcam.
“95 per cent of our buyers purchase the items on behalf of a consortium of doctors across private healthcare clinics for export to countries such as India, Pakistan, Northern Africa and Eastern Europe, and there’s a large veterinary and dental market here in the UK as well,” said Markus.
“Our operation represents a significant leap in care services. Our industry is extremely niche and therefore changing and developing, so our team is constantly tasked with innovating and shaping an industry in which there’s only been one route to market for the past 14 years.”
As well as digital imaging equipment, CIMS resell items including hospital beds, defibrillators, patient trolleys and dialysis machines. A defibrillator from a local PCT could end up supporting refugee camps and humanitarian efforts in the Middle East, and the company recently refurbished 800 electric beds discarded by a West London hospital for shipment to four busy hospitals in Pakistan who were relying on outdated equipment.
CIMS were also approached by the MOD to resell medical equipment from field hospitals supporting troop movements all over the globe, which the company ship back to the UK to test, refurbish and remarket to other healthcare providers.
“It’s vital for CIMS that we continue to be leaders and innovators within this rapidly expanding sector,” explained Markus. “We’re looking to capture the major market share within the UK and have already signed up a number of private healthcare organisations and hospital trusts to help them regain revenue.
“Our focus over the next 12 months will be to grow our medical auctions tenfold and make our service truly global, providing a complete life-cycle service which connects end users across the world with the equipment they urgently need.”
For more information, visit www.canutemedical.com
