User-friendly Store Room Scheme

Abstract Description

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Authors (including presenting author) :

Lo WH(1), Lai KY(1), Lui WK(1) , Ng YB(1)

Affiliation :

(1)Department of medical and geriatric

Introduction :

UCH medical ward 9B is an acute medical ward. There are numerous categories of medical items in store room concerning patients’ lives. To find a quick and easy way to retrieve the item is essential for saving time. Nevertheless, Staff revealed that they always locate the items by their own memory which is not accurate. Moreover, due to the large no. of item loaded and the fast-changing new medical items, the location of medical items is not consistent sometimes. More time spent means less time for patients, which result in inefficiency. Hence, it is imperative to design a comprehensive program in store room management.

Objectives :

1.To design a convenient method of retrieval 2.To save time for item retrieval in store room.

Methodology :

1. A storeroom management workgroup was established including the ward manager, two senior nurses (completed OSH 5S training) and ward clerk. 2. Pre-questionnaires were given to staff. 85% of staff expressed that there is difficulty in looking for an item and 80% staff agreed a new method of retrieval is necessary for saving time. 3. Before the program, a pretest was done, total 28 staff are requested to find one item which are selected randomly from the storeroom. The time of retrieval are marked and the average time of retrieval for each staff are calculated as index. 4. A storeroom map and a checklist were designed to facilitate retrieval. Items are marked clearly on a checklist with locations of different zones and layers of shelf. Staff could retrieve items accordingly. Each item will be labeled for 3-digit code. For example, Angiocath 22G is marked as ‘BC13’. The first letter ‘B’ stands for the B shelf and there are total 7 shelfs from A to G. The second letter ‘C’ stands for the layers of shelf which named from the top layer as ‘A’ and moving downwards. The number ‘13’ means the 13th column of the layer ‘C’ from left to right. 5. In the list, all items are sorted into 18 categories according to their nature. The items are listed according to the alphabetical orders under each category. 6. The map and list will be on paper in the storeroom , but also uploaded to the UCH “SharePoint” for easy access on the computer in ward. 7. Another sample test was done after 3 months to check the average time spent on the retrieval of items. The same 28 items selected in the former sample test will be adopted and assigned to different staff to avoid discrepancy. 8. Post questionnaire was given to staff. The result before and after the program could be evaluated. 9. The storeroom list will be reviewed upon changes or every three months.

Result & Outcome :

In this program, 28 nurses and 6 HCA were involved and interviewed. The average time of retrieval decreased from 2 minutes 5 seconds to 55 seconds. Post questionnaires were distributed to all 9B staff. Result showed that there is 90% agreement of this project in reducing time to retrieve medical items. In conclusion, this project has enhanced the efficiency of item retrieval. The program will be continued and reviewed yearly.