Vaccine cold storage – a matter of life and cash?
20 September 2011
Michelle Rogers, Sales and marketing Director at Labcold discusses how a professional pharmacy fridge are a critical part of the vaccination program.
It is estimated that the Department of Health spends between £150 to £200 million on vaccines for the immunisation program for children under 5 years in England alone. Although an important part of the vaccination program, this huge amount of money does not include other vaccination programs such as those that occur in later childhood or the seasonal flu campaign.
It is estimated that the loss of only one dose of Pediacel vaccine a month in each general practice would cost more than £2 million a year. With the pressures of budgetary constrains plus the upcoming flu season and registration with the CQC, maintaining the cold chain effectively has never been more of an issue.
This is where a professional pharmacy fridge can really help a busy practice. The Department of Health Green Book, Chapter 3 states that ‘ordinary domestic refrigerators must not be used’ but when the NPSA investigated vaccine storage in 96 GP practices it was found that at least 3 were still using domestic refrigerators contrary to the guidance in the Green Book.
Professional pharmacy fridges are more expensive than domestic refrigerators, but when you consider the value of the contents and the potential consequences should vaccines not be stored effectively, then suddenly they do seem excellent value for money. Unlike domestic refrigerators, pharmacy refrigerators are designed from the ground up for the safe storage of vaccines and other temperature sensitive pharmaceuticals.
Domestic refrigerators are not designed to have tight temperature tolerances. Pharmacy fridges are required to store their entire contents between 2oC and 8oC, which means that they can only have a temperature variance of a couple of degrees inside the chamber of the fridge. This is achieved by microprocessor controls which program the cooling mechanism to turn on when a high temperature is detected and off when a low temperature is recorded in one of the many sweeps of the sensors inside the fridge.
Temperature conformity is further enhanced by a fan. Fans inside the refrigerator ensure that air is circulated so there are no hot or cold pockets and when the door is opened (as it will be many times in a busy practice) the hot air that rushes in to the fridges is dispersed quickly and the fridge returns to temperature. This is why you usually find a fan in even the smallest pharmacy fridge such as the compact 36 litre pharmacy fridge from Labcold.
The other advantage of professional pharmacy fridges is that they come complete with alarms. This gives you warning if the fridge is going out of temperature and allows you to do something about it. This means that you are given an instant warning that your expensive drugs are about to experience a temperature outside that for which they are licensed and you have the chance to save them before it is too late.
Fridge contents are usually on the surgery insurance, but do you really want to have to make a claim? There is also the requirement for temperature records to be maintained . With CQC registration looming and the safe storage of medicines one of the five essential requirements, temperature records are going to become even more important.
That is why good pharmacy fridges have automatic minimum/maximum temperature recording so the readings can easily be taken and recorded by simply pressing a button on the fascia of the fridge and then reset the same way ensuring the fridge is ready for the next working day. It is also a good idea to review these records yourself on a regular basis, this way you will notice something could be going wrong with the fridge and take the appropriate action, before any vaccines are spoiled.
The last thing to consider is what gas is used in the fridge. All fridges are CFC free but ammonia is still used in some absorption models. These fridges have the advantage that they are silent in operation but, like all refrigerators they can leak and when they do there is a major incident such as the one at Victoria Hospital, Wimborne in March this year or Whitney Health Centre in December 2010, or South Molton Community Hospital in July 2010 and Ellesmere Port Hospital in January of the same year. Ammonia gas can cause serious burns to the skin, irritate eyes and injure the throat and lungs if inhaled, however, the most likely consequence is that a number of fire crews will be called, a large area will be cordoned off and the practice will be closed until cleared.
Costly disruption that both you and your patients would prefer not to experience The current resurgence of measles in France reminds every health professional how important effective vaccine is. A good vaccine program saves lives, something which is often forgotten in the developed world but is the cornerstone of any preventative healthcare program. They also save money. The cost of a simple vaccination against keeping an unvaccinated child in hospital is minimal.
That’s why professional vaccine refrigerators are such an important part of practice equipment, crucial to saving budgets and ultimately contributing to healthy lives.
Other Press Releases By This Company
- 06/10/2011 - Labcold to launch NEW Pharmacy Fridge range at the Pharmacy Show 2011
- 25/03/2011 - Labcold to exhibit at Science World 2011
- 07/02/2011 - Labcold sign new framework agreement with Buying Solutions
- 05/01/2011 - New Pharmacy Brochure from Labcold
- 12/02/2010 - Re-modelled Laboratory Refrigeration from Labcold
- 12/02/2010 - Labcold announces new incubators
- 12/02/2010 - New 66 litre Refrigerator from Labcold
- 10/02/2010 - Labcold launch digital vaccine and sample transporter
- 02/02/2010 - Labcold Fridges provide Vets with safe vaccine storage
