East Midlands Ambulance service are a regular and valued customer who were suffering from expensive cable damage on their Lifepak machines during use. They tasked us to develop a cost effective and easy to use solution to this problem.

EMAS Lifepak Cable Reel Prototype

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East Midlands Ambulance service are a regular and valued customer to whom we supply both stock and bespoke Controlled drugs cabinets. They approached us earlier in the year as they had an ongoing problem with their LIFEPAK monitor units. LIFEPAK is a patient monitoring unit used by the East Midlands Ambulance service crews on their ambulances to monitor among other things, patient’s vital signs. These vital signs are obtained from the patient using a 2m long lead which is attached at one end to the monitor and the other to the patient’s body. The problem the service crews were having was that with regular use the cable was sustaining damage with the constant need to pull out and put back 2m of cable when sometimes only a short length was required to reach the patient. The Ambulance service and ourselves discussed the problem, our brief was simple, a quick and low cost solution to prevent the lead from sustaining damage whilst in day to day use by the crew.

Lifepak Prototype Manufacture

EMAS Lifepak Cable Reel

We quickly came up with a solution and commenced work on a simple prototype.

We manufactured from sheet metal a simple profile which when formed and welded together we then powder coated and submitted to East Midlands Ambulance service as a prototype. This prototype was trialed by a crew for several days and found to be a good basis upon which to pursue further development of the unit.

The comments put forward by the Ambulance crews were noted and these were included in the second prototype which was again trialed by a crew.

Several days later this prototype was accepted East Midlands Ambulance service and an initial order placed by them for one hundred units.

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We were tasked to manufacture two bespoke controlled drugs cabinets for the West Midlands Ambulance service. Their brief was  to provide two bespoke controlled drugs cabinets which would allow them to safely and securely transport Controlled drugs in their delivery vehicles to and from ambulance bases and sites in and around the west Midlands.

Bespoke Controlled Drugs Cabinets for the Ambulance Services

The two bespoke controlled drugs cabinets had to be able to be securely fixed to the inside chassis of the vehicle but not to damage or modify the bodywork in any way to avoid de-valuing  the vehicle when it had reached the end if it’s lease.

The trust gave us specific sizes and the criteria they required which were easily accommodated within our design and still met the requirements of the Misuse of drugs (safe custody) regulation 1975.  Within a few days a drawing was prepared of the bespoke controlled drugs cabinets which was then submitted to the Ambulance service for their approval. The design proved to be acceptable to them and the cabinets were immediately put into production.

Forming a bespoke Controlled drugs cabinet

The working drawings were used to prepare laser cutting instructions and the relevant parts laser cut. We used a press brake to form the flat pieces of steel into the shape required for the body, sides and doors etc. These parts are then assembled and tack welded together before being checked prior to being fully welded together.

Forming a Controlled drugs cabinet

Bespoke controlled drugs cabinets are made in exactly the same way as the  Controlled drugs cabinets we have in our stock range all of which can be purchased from our on-line shop.

After the cabinets have been welded together they are cleaned and taken to our powder coating shop to have a coat of polyester powder coat applied which give the whole unit a robust and durable wipe clean finish prior to final assembly and dispatch to customer.

Bespoke controlled drugs cabinets for the west midlands ambulance services

WMAS bespoke controlled drugs cabinet

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A significant value of Controlled Drugs are dispensed every year within NHS Primary Care, however just how many, and who dispenses them?

Prescribing Controlled Drugs in medical environments

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Controlled drugs cabinet to store controlled drugs before prescribing them

The following information is our interpretation of information made available by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and made available in The safer management of controlled drugs annual report 2013. The information is intended for reference by Pharmacy Medical only.

Every year, prescribing controlled drugs increases within NHS primary care, whether that be volume of drugs dispensed or the value of the drugs dispensed. According to the CQC, in 2013 a similar number of controlled drugs were prescribed as in 2012, however the cost of these drugs increased by around 10 percent. Prescribing controlled drugs in NHS primary care by nurses and pharmacists is continuing to increase, however the volume prescribed by them represents a small volume of the total prescribed controlled drugs.

According to CQC data that was gathered by the CQC through monitoring the overall use and management of controlled drugs, the number of drugs dispensed in 2013 was 47,044,814 which was a 1 percent fall compared to 2012. The cost of prescribing these drugs in 2013 was £498,942,743 which is around a ten percent increase compared to £452,761,855 in 2012.

Prescribing controlled drugs by pharmacists and nurses in 2013 increased by eleven percent for nurses and sixteen percent for pharmacists in 2013. For example, in nurses prescribed 593649 controlled drugs in 2012 and 661544 in 2013, whereas pharmacists prescribed 25325 controlled drugs in 2012 and 29502 in 2013.

The figures above represent a significant number of controlled drugs being dispensed every year.

To help nurses and pharmacists in their daily job, Pharmacy Medical manufacture a wide range of controlled drugs cabinets to assist with the storage and prescribing of controlled drugs. To ensure that prescribing of controlled drugs is as easier a task as possible from our controlled drugs cabinets, Pharmacy Medical have improved their controlled drugs cabinets to incorporate new locks. Your can read more about these here.

Pharmacy Medicals new locks not only make day to day operation easier and more reliable, but they are future proof and compatible with Assa Abloys CLIQ electronic key system which helps to save valuable time, and offers an audit trail of when a cabinet was opened and by who. More information about this is available here.

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Pharmacy Medical were there, and will be there again next year. Here’s a summary of how it all went, and a thank you to everyone who came to see us there.

The Patient First Show 2014

The Patient First Show 2014 was a new event organised to promote patient safety and well-being, under the tag line “preventing harm, improving care“. As a new show everyone attending was slightly unsure of what to expect. As ever Closer Still Media put on a brilliant backdrop and the exhibitors, with their diverse range of products and services helped to keep the show interesting.

The logo for the Patient First Show

Over the two days of the show, our new bedside cabinets and laptop trolley were well received. Already on trial in one hospital, and now, as a result of the show scheduled to go on trial in three more, our bedside cabinet is quickly gaining popularity for its unique design and construction, combined with its customisation potential and cost. Its three separate compartments are of the time dividing safely and securely with new electronic locks, medicine storage, patients personal belongings and other items.

PharmacyMedicals hospital bedside cabinets on show at the Patient First Show 2014

Designed in conjunction with Scunthorpe Hospital, the bedside cabinet uses the latest locking technology and combines this with a hygienic metal construction to make a robust, secure and easy to steam clean unit.

Also on display was our laptop trolley. This is a cost effective solution to electronic prescribing in hospitals. Designed to accommodate laptops and tablet computers the height adjustable trolley is both light and robust whilst its construction makes it infection control and user friendly.

Other items on display were our dispensing trolley, and controlled drugs cabinets. Our dispensing trolley is designed to be a modern and more hygienic solution to replace wooden versions. Sold with a folding lid, 8 inch deep front drawer, and slide away note table the trolley is again robust and easy to clean. As with all our products, the stock trolley design shown at Patient first can be

The Patient First Show 2014. Our stand showing all the products we took to display.

customised to meet your exact needs.

As ever, we took our renowned controlled drugs cabinets along to the Patient First Show as well. Glowing green from their green show lights, these cabinets are becoming a feature of our stand at any show we go to. As many people discovered at the Patient First Show, PharmacyMedicals controlled drugs cabinets are robust and, excellent quality and available for next delivery. All of that and they’re the best price we hope you will find on-line!

PharmacyMedical are now a renowned name for controlled drugs cabinets in the UK. Over time we have become well known for our quality, prices and rapid delivery, and as a result of the Patient First Show, we are now known for our hospital furniture catalogue too.

Although our catalogue is relatively new compared to many of the old timers, we aim to offer the same service we have become know for for our controlled drugs cabinets, whilst offering a bespoke manufacture service ensuring that you don’t have to settle for stock. Have something that works for you and your hospital.

Thanks again to all who came to see us at this years Patient First Show at London’s ExCel centre, we hope you had a fantastic show, a safe journey home, and hope to see you again there next year.

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