Medstor had designed and delivered an operating theatre storage system for all three of NHS Lanarkshire’s hospitals that has provided safer, more efficient storage for theatre instrument tray packs, streamlined the entire storage system, and helped reduce wastage on surplus stock.
Now successfully in use at Wishaw Hospital and Hairmyres Hospital, with Monklands Hospital to follow by the year-end – it features cabinets and racking from Medstor’s range of ‘innovative materials management solutions’.
Previously, sterile theatre instrument trays, packed and stacked ready for use, were getting slight tears from the existing racking and transport system, with damaged packs having to be sent away for repacking. Medstor replaced the entire scheme with the Metro Toptrack System. The company said: “Metro Toptrack offers smooth, snagfree construction and good airflow, and provides extra capacity, allowing tray packs to be stacked just one or two high for easy, safe removal without ripping. “
Alongside storage racking, Toptrack features mobile units, so packs can be moved easily, reducing handling and the accompanying risk of damage. Their shelf height is set at the same level as the shelves on the racking, meaning packs can be picked and placed on the shelves without compromising health and safety. Since the system’s installation at Wishaw Hospital, incidents of damaged packs ‘have been reduced to zero’.
The new storerooms also include Medstor’s HTM 71 storage cabinets, featuring its ‘unique’ tray and liner system, and designed to accommodate a wide range of theatre consumables – ‘all simple to see and access’, and to ‘make the most of every bit of available space’.
