The EAHP Board, elected for three-year terms, oversees the association’s activities. Comprising directors responsible for core functions, it meets regularly to implement strategic goals. Supported by EAHP staff, the Board controls finances, coordinates congress organization, and ensures compliance with statutes and codes of conduct.
IMPLEMENTATION OF A NEW CENTRALISED FLOOR STOCK IN A SECURED AUTOMATED STORAGE CABINET
European Statement
Selection, Procurement and Distribution
Author(s)
Chloé HERLEDAN, Laura BEAUMIER, Laurence MINISCHETTI, Marie-Christine ALBERTO-GONDOUIN
Why was it done?
Existing floor stocks are limited to usual psychiatric drugs. On-call resident pharmacists dispense additional treatments during pharmacy closing hours. Hence, extending the floor stocks would facilitate continuity of care. SASC centralisation enables simple and secured access to medication while saving space in care units.
What was done?
A new drug and medical device floor stock was implemented in our psychiatric hospital. The floor stock is contained in a secured automated storage cabinet (SASC) located in a protected area inside the pharmacy and accessible during its closing hours. Utilisation training was offered to nurses through multiple formats.
How was it done?
Floor stock composition has been established from frequent requests made during on-call time and can be consulted on the pharmacy website. Prescriptions and patient informations can be checked before removal on a computer in the SASC area. The SASC requires badge identification, unit and patient name entry and provides traceability of removals. Moreover, cold storage requiring drugs are housed in a refrigerator unlocked through the SASC. Regarding utilisation training, all night nurses had to attend a demonstration of the SASC performed by the resident pharmacists. This demonstration was also offered to day nurses and head nurses during weekly pharmacy open days for three months. In addition, an instruction manual and a video tutorial were produced and uploaded on the website.
What has been achieved?
60/67 (89.5%) night nurses, 80/256 (31.2%) day nurses and 10/20 (50.0%) head nurses have attended the SASC demonstration. A satisfaction survey conducted among trained nurses or head nurses had an 18.7% response rate. 26/28 (92.9%) of respondents attended the demonstration and all were satisfied by its quality. 2/28 (7.1%) only used the instruction manual. All respondents declared being able to use the SASC, however 7/28 (25.0%) would need assistance from the instruction manual or video tutorial.
What next?
Further utilisation training or assistance will be provided by the video tutorial. Removals and prescriptions will be checked by pharmacists to uncover picking errors. Impact on resident pharmacists’ workload will be assessed within six months. Finally, SASC centralised floor stock is an interesting approach for hospital pharmacies with limited staff to improve continuity of care.