Traceability of Infant Feeds at CHI at Temple Street
Background
In 2016 the hospital was audited by the Food Safety Professionals Association (FSPA). One of the findings of the audit was that the hospital was unable to track feeds to patients.
The hospital implemented a standards-based traceability database, barcode labelling and a scanning system that could capture the critical data about each product (expiry date or best before date, batch number, location within the hospital e.g. store or ward, the staff member that delivered or prepared the feed and ultimately the patient that received it).
Video
CHI at Temple Street and GS1 Ireland feature in the GS1 Healthcare Reference Book 2019-2020.
Key Results
Increased patient safety through traceability and compliance
Time and paper savings
The Problem
The SFU needs to track the ingredients used to prepare up to 400 infant feeds daily and track those feeds to individual patients. The paper-based traceability system was cumbersome, time consuming and prone to error.
The Solution
The SFU scan all goods received and apply individual serialized barcoded labels to the products at ‘Goods-In’. Although this requires additional resources for the ‘Goods-In’ process, it greatly reduces the time required at subsequent processes.
They now operate ‘single-scan’ movements of feeds rather than numerous paper-based records.
The Benefits
- Electronic batch recall now possible
- Huge paper savings
- Staff engagement
- Patient safety benefits
- Reports/Audits at the touch of a button
- The estimated time savings are 0.5FTE for Dispatch/Stores & time saving for Daily freezer stock count
- Additional unexpected benefits (HACCP forms and process improvements)
- Widespread interest both internally and from other hospitals
CHI at Temple Street and GS1 Ireland feature in the GS1 Healthcare Reference Book 2019-2020.
Webinar
Innovative Traceability of infant feeds using serialisation to improve patient safety, Dublin, Ireland
Healthcare Provider Advisory Council webinar with Sinead Moran, Special Feeds Unit Manager, CHI at Temple Street.
The Healthcare Provider Advisory Council organises monthly webinars to discuss Provider Case Study Presentations. These webinars are open to any stakeholder interested in learning about GS1 standards implementation in the care giving environment.
