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£3 million worth of vaccines ruined each year
01 May 2009
JPen Medical, the market leader in on-site medical equipment testing and calibration, estimates £3million worth of vaccines will be ruined this year due to surgery fridge failure.
From its experience of testing over 3,000 fridges per year JPen estimate that 10% of fridges fail each year, which often goes unnoticed because there are no external indicators.
The implications of these failures are significant both in terms of healthcare and finance.
Not only is the vaccines’ efficacy jeopardised, which may endanger patient well-being, but there are also cost implications - not only do repeat vaccines have to be purchased, but the insurance costs for failures can be very high.
A number of practices have seen their insurance premiums increased due to claims for replacement vaccines and some insurers insist that claimant’s fridges are tested every quarter to minimise the risk of repeat claims.
Although on average a fridge will last between 6 and 8 years, as with all electrical equipment, there is no guarantee and it is not uncommon for JPen to fail equipment in its first year (in which case at least the practice can claim for a replacement under the product’s guarantee).
And June to October is the peak time for fridge failures, due either to a period of sustained high temperatures or the bulk storage of new vaccines - the high number of flu vaccines delivered in October, for example, can often push fridges that are bordering on failure over the edge.
It is also surprising to see the number of domestic fridges appearing in surgeries, the rational being that although they are unsuitable for vaccines the cheaper fridges can be used for specimens and act as an over flow. However, with time the vaccines creep in to these unsuitable fridges, endangering their efficacy.
Ten Top Tips on Vaccine Fridges
As market leader in on-site testing and calibration JPen medical will test 3,000 vaccine fridges this year across the UK. From its years of experience it has compiled the following top tips:
1. Always make sure the fridge holding your vaccines has a temperature monitor to ensure the vaccines are being kept within the prescribed temperature range of 2 to 8 degrees centigrade.
2. If there is no fan in your fridge to circulate the air there is typically a temperature variation of 3 degrees from the top to the bottom. So if your temperature gauge is showing a temperature at the upper or lower limit be aware that some shelves within the fridge may be outside of the tolerance guidelines
3. Don’t keep your lunch in the fridge, as door opening should be kept to a minimum. Opening the door increases the temperature, which causes the fridge to work hard to return to its specified temperature.
This will reduce the life of the fridge, and heavy and frequent temperature fluctuations may jeopardise the vaccine efficacy
4. Avoid small fridges where possible. The smaller the fridge the harder it has to work and the longer it takes for the temperature to normalise after opening.
5. Make sure you use a medical fridge for your vaccines rather than a domestic. The ideal fridge should contain the following:
- A temperature controller (to adjust temperatures) rather than just an indicator
- A built-in fan to accelerate the cooling process
- A lock
6. Fridge temperatures should be logged twice a day in accordance with PCT guidelines
7. Make sure the fridge is not iced up – why?
8. Ensure locks are fully retracted before opening the door. Frequently doors are forced when the locking bar is still partly out, which will damage seals and the hinges.
9. Fridges are most likely to fail after a period of sustained high temperatures or when they have just been filled, as the cooling mechanism has to work hard to bring the temperature down to the correct level. So always pay particular attention to the temperature at these times.
Make sure your fridges are tested at least once a year to validate performance
Compliance