Instrument tracking system to improve patient safety at QEH

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown will soon be one of the few hospitals in the country to have anew system to keep track of medical instruments, with the help of a donation from the QEH Auxiliary.

Dorothy Johnston, a past president of theQEH Auxiliary, said the funding will provide an important service to Islanders and their safety.

Bar-codingsystem

"I know there are certain things that are needed that are not seen by the public's eye so this way we are helping the hospital and the patients get a better service," she said.

Hundreds of trays and the instruments they contain for various medical procedureswill be permanently marked with bar codes.

Susan MacKinnon, manager of the supply, processing and distribution department, said the system will allow the department to keep track of its inventory.

"We're going to be bar-coding instrument trays that will then be stored in our software. So, every tray will be scanned as it leaves or comes to our department and that's our traceability," she said.

"It will allow us to know how many of each item we have."

'Cutting edge'

MacKinnon said her department is crucial inthe day to day operations at the hospital.

"If we don't do our work correctly that surgery is cancelled for the day and that patient has been impacted in a very serious way."

The system will cost $275,000 which has been donated by the auxiliary and will be operational in the coming months. The QEH will be one of only about a dozenhospitals in the country to have one.

"It's really ...cutting edge. We're one of maybe 10hospitals in Canada right now that have this technology," said MacKinnon.

The hospital has already purchased washing and disinfecting equipment for instruments with donations from the auxiliary.

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