Smiths Medical

8,200 employees
£691m sales*
£127.3m headline operating profit*

*Source: Smiths Group plc Annual Report & Accounts 2007

Group Managing Director:

Srini Seshadri

Principal operating regions:

Manufacturing is concentrated in Mexico, the US, the UK and Italy.

 

Smiths Medical is a supplier of specialist medical devices to global markets. Smiths Medical comprises three product groupings: Vital Care, Safety Devices and Medication Delivery & Patient Monitoring. Smiths Medical customers include hospitals and other healthcare providers worldwide. Smiths Medical employs nearly 7,500 people. For further information visit www.smiths-medical.com

Customers & Markets

The company has a global reach in the design, production and distribution of medical device products, with sales and marketing activities in over 100 countries.

Vital Care

Smiths Medical’s products:
• Manage the patient's airway during and after surgery.
• Aid patients with breathing difficulties.
• Maintain body temperature.
• Assist reproduction through IVF therapy.

Safety Devices

Smiths Medical makes effective safety devices that prevent needlestick injuries and reduce cross infections for:
• Drawing blood samples.
• Giving injections and vaccinations.
• Delivering intravenous drugs.

Medication Delivery & Patient Monitoring

Smiths Medical provides:
• Drug delivery systems that relieve acute and chronic pain.
• Chemotherapy delivery systems to treat cancer patients.
• Patient-friendly pumps to deliver insulin to diabetics.
• Monitoring of vital signs such as blood pressure and heart rate.

In Action: Taking medical research to new heights

Smiths Medical demonstrated its active support of clinical research through the Smiths Medical Young Everest Study (SMYES).

In the first study of its kind, nine healthy British children were taken to Mount Everest by doctors and scientists at University College London (UCL) and Great Ormond Street Hospital aiming to develop new treatments for critically ill children and those with both breathing and sleep problems.

SMYES investigated how the children coped with low oxygen levels on the world’s highest mountain. Smiths Medical - which is a specialist in respiratory care - supported the study and has contributed around £4 million towards medical research at UCL over the last decade.

Doctors do not yet fully understand children’s responses to low oxygen levels, which are common in very sick children and can be fatal. By investigating how healthy children’s bodies cope and adapt at altitude, the SMYES team hopes to improve the chances of survival for very sick children. It also aims to improve the quality of life of those with chronic/long term lung diseases and to develop new methods of detecting and treating children with disturbed sleep patterns.

SMYES was conducted as part of the Caudwell Xtreme Everest project, the part of the study which investigated how adults' bodies acclimatise at altitude. Results from both studies are being used to help develop new medical devices.