Hospital Pharmacy Shelving
As hospitals strive to treat more patients and, at the same time, lower the cost of doing so, efficiency becomes evermore important so it’s no surprise that Robotic Dispensing Equipment is becoming a common feature in Hospital Pharmacies.
Pharmacy Robots offer a number of major benefits, including reduction of errors in medication, reduction of waiting time for outpatients, patients being discharged from hospital sooner and improved availability of medicines on the ward.
The hospital pharmacy robots are able to automatically pick up and dispense medicines in a quick and efficient manner improving quality and reducing clinical risk. Financially the robots earn their keep through gains in better stock holding leading to the reduction of expired stock and minimising waste. The Robots are expensive, the unit installed into Wythenshawe Hospital in Greater Manchester two years ago, cost £500,00 and of course they can break down. They are not perfect, some will not accept bottles or large packs or boxes and so inevitably standard Hospital Pharmacy Shelving supports every robot. Whilst this may not be surprising, the lack of attention and organisation to this ancillary hospital pharmacy shelving is. The features that make the Robots so technically advanced, such as accurate placing of stock, computerised memory and swift dispensing are often totally ignored in the ancillary shelving. Of course this is where a machine excels every time over the average man or woman in a pharmacy but it doesn’t have to be the case. The same solid grounds for justifying a robot can be applied to the support shelving. This ancillary shelving also needs to add value and efficiency to the overall process. Unfortunately old existing shelving or typical storeroom shelving does not offer any improvements. Pharmashelve offers flexibility, improved stock control and increased stock density, all at an affordable price.
Pharmashelve’s sloping retractable drawers offers the pharmacist and his team a chance to introduce more stock into a smaller space and yet create the discipline that ensures an improvement in stock control. Good use of space is valuable in any dispensary, apart from the obvious financial savings in floor space, less movement by staff leads to higher efficiency and less fatigue.
Steve Turner, of Pharmashelve, says “It’s seems incredible that while Hospitals invest hundreds of thousands of pounds in Robotic Dispensaries, many still ignore the secondary shelving which can offer huge improvements for a fraction of the cost”