Reducing Costs & Improving Patient Safety with Suffolk Primary Care
Suffolk Primary Care is made up of 14 GP Practices across Suffolk, caring for over 120,000 patients annually.
Prior to implementing a smart solution, the responsibility of fridge monitoring fell to nurses and healthcare assistants within the practices. This additional task was taking time from key members of the team, who would rather be providing patient care. The quality of the manual process was inconsistent, meaning on at least two occasions annually, the contents of entire fridges would have to be destroyed. Fridges across the Suffolk Primary Care Network often contain up to £7,000 worth of medicines and vaccines. The standard operating procedures in place failed to account for staff sickness, annual leave or basic human error. This offered implications both in terms of patient safety and from a business perspective for the trust.
To give time back to the staff, reduce risk and better care for their patients, Suffolk Primary Care made the decision to implement an Invisible Systems smart solution. Made up of both temperature and energy sensors, the trust began monitoring fridge temperatures and energy usage across all 14 of their GP surgeries. It was important for the team at Suffolk Primary Care to be able to quantify the impact of the pilot project and the savings generated in order to justify ongoing investment from the primary care practice.
Suffolk Primary Care used Invisible Systems' advanced temperature monitoring solutions to ensure the safety and integrity of their fridges and vaccine storage. Invisible Systems' advanced monitors provide live insights into fridge temperatures, eliminating the need for manual site visits and eliminating human error. By monitoring the temperature of their refrigerator and vaccination storage via our wireless sensors, they were able to eliminate the risk of human error and ensure that vaccines and other perishable medicinal products were kept within safe temperature ranges throughout the entire storage and transportation process, protecting the health and well-being of patients and employees. With our solution, they were able to efficiently manage their resources and minimise human error.