Falmouth Graduate’s ‘Olly the Octopus’ Redefines IV Poles at Royal Cornwall Hospital

Florence Mitchell, a Falmouth University graduate, has designed a sustainable intravenous (IV) pole named ‘Olly the Octopus’ for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust (RCHT). The child-friendly pole was developed during the final stages of Florence’s three-year sustainable product design degree and aims to address sustainability and patient experience.

Made from recycled polypropylene gowns sourced from the hospital and processed using Sterimelt technology, ‘Olly’ is not only eco-friendly but also built for durability. Designed to be fully dismantled and repaired if damaged, the IV pole helps reduce waste significantly.

The Design Process

Florence’s passion for medical design blossomed in the latter part of her second year and took shape in her final year, with work on ‘Olly’ commencing in January. “I started by looking at problems that might be encountered around sustainability in our hospitals,” Florence said. “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.”

Meeting Functional and Emotional Needs

Florence ensured that the new design addressed both practical and emotional needs in hospital wards. “Each tentacle represents a core value of the NHS as well as the two sustainability goals that it’s working towards,” she explained. To enhance functionality, ‘Olly’ was built to hold up to three times the weight of a standard IV hook, allowing it to be easily managed by ward staff.

Additionally, Florence envisioned an interactive component. “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,” she noted. Inspired by a Kinder Egg toy, Florence explored the potential for an app where ‘Olly’ could be animated, interact with children, and offer features for parents to monitor their child’s mood, potentially easing anxieties during hospital visits.

Early Support and Impact

Kelly Mengham, Ward Sister for the Gastro and Liver Unit, played a crucial role in supporting the project from its inception. “I was introduced to Florence when she was researching ideas for a sustainability project,” Kelly said. “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.”

Kelly emphasised the broader impact of ‘Olly,’ stating: “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.”

Looking Ahead

Florence expressed her hope to improve and expand the use of ‘Olly’: “I’d really love to see ‘Olly’ in hospitals, if possible, 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.”

Kelly concluded with praise for Florence’s innovative work: “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!”