Delivering Patient Safety by Ensuring Nurses Have the Right Medicines to Hand for Patients When They Need It
North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust decided to replace their emergency department drugs cupboard with automated technology because pharmacy time was being absorbed by stocktakes and nurses on the ward didn’t always have the medication available they needed for patients resulting in vital treatment delays.
The Challenge
- Reduce pharmacy time absorbed by stocktakes every couple of days.
- Ensure nurses on the ward always had the medication available that they needed for patients when needed, avoiding vital treatment delays.
- Put in a new system that was easy to implenent.
- Allow frontline staff to clearly see the medication they need and ensure it was stored securely.
- Improve patient safety
- Reduce patient discharge times
- Reduce nursing time spent looking for drug cupboard keys
- Reduce pharmacy time absorbed by stocktakes every couple of days.
- Ensure nurses on the ward always had the medication available that they needed for patients when needed, avoiding vital treatment delays.
- Put in a new system that was easy to implenent.
- Allow frontline staff to clearly see the medication they need and ensure it was stored securely.
- Improve patient safety
- Reduce patient discharge times
- Reduce nursing time spent looking for drug cupboard keys
The Solution
Omnicell Automated Dispensing Cabinets
Following a successful trial in the emergency department, the Trust now has Omnicell cabinets in 13 locations across the hospital. Pharmacy is responsiblefor top-ups and ensuring wards have all the stock they need to hand. All medication is tracked by the system which ensures pharmacy has visibility of exactly what stock is available in what ward.
Omnicell Automated Dispensing Cabinets
Following a successful trial in the emergency department, the Trust now has Omnicell cabinets in 13 locations across the hospital. Pharmacy is responsiblefor top-ups and ensuring wards have all the stock they need to hand. All medication is tracked by the system which ensures pharmacy has visibility of exactly what stock is available in what ward.
The Impact
This new approach to medication management and stock rotation is helping to eliminate the risk of errors and ensuring wards no longer run out of the vital drugs which will help patients to recover.
- The return on investment is 177% over ten years when just analysing stock savings. This doesn’t take into account patient safety, care and quality which are worth much more.
- A stock reduction of £2,800 or 10% of the stock on hand has been achieved. Further reductions could be possible on review of usage patterns.
- Expiry checks are now easier for pharmacy as Omnicell is able to monitor and alert on expiry dates supporting FIFO process.
- Stock outs on the wards are down to 0% on five wards and less than 2% on a further four wards.
- The number of additional restocks required on wards is now down to 0%on four wards with Omnicell.
"We don’t find out of date items anymore and we don’t run out of things. The time taken to get medications is much quicker and we can always get the medication we need when we need it and that makes it much safer for staff and patients."
Tom Bingham, ICU Clinical Co-ordinator, North Tees Hospital
