A greener hospital storeroom, Emergency Department

Project completed as part of the 2023-4 Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Green Team Competition.

Team members

• Dr Caroline Kendrick (Emergency Medicine Consultant)

• Dr Amy Fantham (Emergency Medicine Junior Clinical Fellow)

• Mr Gary Green (Storeroom Manager)

• Ms Amy Page (Deputy Operations Director)

Setting / patient group:

Emergency department stockroom/medical supplies

Issue:

The emergency department stockroom was poorly organised and not stocked appropriately, leading to frustration for staff and delays / issues in identifying items needed for clinical care.

Intervention:

A comprehensive storeroom review with MDT involvement across clinical and non-clinical teams. Several meetings were arranged to review every product within the stockroom to determine whether items were still in use within the department, if appropriate amounts were being ordered and how decisions were made regarding when and what to reorder.

Outcomes:

During the 10-week project approximately 25% of the storeroom was reviewed. Changes made amount to projected annual savings of £20,786 and 10,810 kgCO2e, equivalent to driving 28,539 miles. We plan to review the remaining 75% of the stock room so there is potential to significantly increase these savings. Staff commented they think often about the waste generated in emergency, and that working in an environmentally friendly department is important to them. Before starting the project, staff feedback was largely that the storeroom was cluttered, intimidating and made it challenging to find items needed. We anticipate a more organised storeroom and inventory control system will help facilitate saving staff time and improving the overall user experience. We will re-survey staff on completion of the project.

Key learning point

As a group we were overwhelmed by the amount of stock present and soon realised the enormity of the task ahead. However, pulling together we became enthused by the changing landscape of the room and results being achieved. The project has also provided a springboard for many other sustainability project ideas within the department. The main message to take away from this project is that if you start with a small snowflake, you could end up making a snowman!