51% savings in consumables at Blacktown Hospital with STERIRACK™ medical storage solution

VISIBILITY

Sterirack brings the stock to the front. Stock isn’t hiding in danky cupboards. It’s not hiding in storerooms,” Graeme said.

“The biggest detriment to stock management is expiry. Things not being rotated. Dust collects on stock which deteriorates the sterile packaging. These are all things that the Spacelogic STERIRACK system alleviates.”

COLOUR CODING SYSTEM

“The colour coding system that Spacelogic offers fits well with the colour coding system we’ve designed here. Out of the thirteen colours offered we utilise ten,” he said.

“The vibrant colours allow for fast location of stock, which was a big thing that our nurses and consumers needed. Nurses were spending too long trying to find things, when their job should be about patient care. So the vibrant colours that you guys offer have really helped in the location of stock.”

INCREDIBLE REDUCTION IN STOCK INTERACTION TIMES

Graeme and his team have achieved huge cost savings for the hospital by introducing best practice systems using STERIRACK.

“Previously a general stock interaction would take anywhere between two minutes and ten minutes, depending on which storeroom the person was in – all due to poor labelling, and similar items not being located together. Now, with the vibrant colour labelling that Spacelogic has provided, 30 seconds is the maximum interaction. This allows our nurses to return to patient care, which is where nurses and doctors need to be,” said Graeme.

“When we added it up, what we found out was that nurses were losing up to an hour a day in the storeroom. Now, with STERIRACK they’re spending less than ten minutes a day in there. Over the course of the year those hours gained can go back into patient care,” he said.

HUGE SAVINGS IN CONSUMABLES

“We reduced, on average, the stock valuation held in the hospital by 51% across the six wards! That’s a total of $108,000 in six wards, just by having an effective stock management plan. By using the Spacelogic system nothing is hidden, nothing’s behind, so you know that you’re ordering the right amount every single time you go to order.”

Graeme went on to say, “Not a lot of people realise that the second highest cost in a hospital is consumables (behind labour, which is the largest cost at roughly 45%). So if you can save money on consumables you can deliver that surplus back into patient care where it needs to be, for extra nurses, better equipment etc.”

Spacelogic would like to thank Graeme, and we look forward to visiting Blacktown Hospital again for an update on how their Spacelogic storage systems are providing added value to the hospital and its staff.