Medical trolleys play an important role in improving patient care in healthcare settings. The ways in which they enable patient care are through increasing efficiency, improving patient safety, increasing accessibility across different areas of the hospital, reducing errors involving patients, improving the mobility of hospital workers and reducing costs. Learn more about the key patient care benefits of adopting medical trolleys into your healthcare practice in this article.
Increased Efficiency
Medical Trolleys increase efficiency within the healthcare setting by providing immediate and easy access to supplies. Additionally, having increased storage capacity allows personnel to transport greater quantities in one setting of the items they require. By providing easy access to items, personnel have more time for supply trips, resulting in increasing the speed and efficiency of medical procedures.
Improved Patient Safety
Medical trolleys allow for categorisation and organisation of medical supplies reducing contamination of sterile items and pathogen transmission. There are specific trolleys that are designed for the transportation of medication, with the specific organisation of medication allowing the reduced risk of mix-ups and medication errors.
Additionally, through the increased organisation of key healthcare workspaces, healthcare personnel can provide safer and more effective patient care. Through this more detailed organisation of different medical devices e.g. instruments and medication; the scope for error is decreased, and quicker care can be provided. An example of where this is noticed is in medical trolleys with drawers, with separate drawers allowing for staff to more efficiently allocate and categorise supplies. Mechanisms such as locks also help improve the confidentiality of sensitive patient information contained in files.
Accessibility
By utilising medical trolleys, accessibility is increased for healthcare workers to provide increased levels of care and greater levels of mobility for staff. For patients who have limited or decreased levels of mobility, healthcare workers can use medical trolleys to help them provide bedside care. A medical trolley enables a mobile and organised workplace, which allows the provision of more mobile care across different sectors of the hospital. This ensures that patients are provided with the best level of care when needed, reducing delays and increasing staff access to medical supplies.
Reduced Errors
Hospital Trolleys also assist in reducing the amount and severity of errors within the hospital environment. This is noticed through a decrease in margin error caused by rushed and disorganised work and the solution is greater levels of organisation. This more efficient time allocation also allows staff to increase their focus on individualised patient care and task allocation. Medical trolleys also help to mitigate error factors through equipment utilisation, having a better system of hierarchy which enables fewer mistakes through incorrect equipment and medication.
Greater Mobility
Patient care is improved by using medical trolleys which enable greater mobility. This allows workers to reach different hospital wards, and increase the number of patient visits/supply delivery without unnecessary additional stops. The enablement of greater mobility, allows doctors and ward workers to diversify their care across a broader range of patients in a reduced period of time. Patient care is therefore improved through this increased mobility option allowing staff to attend to patient needs.
Reduced Costs
By using a medical trolley cost savings are seen in several different ways. The versatility offered by medical trolleys enables more mobile workspaces. This reduces the need for specialised procedure equipment on a per-patient basis. Benefits can additionally be seen in cost reduction through increased productivity and reduced labour costs within a healthcare setting. Through a more organised workspace, a better gauge and understanding of inventory levels is achieved. It allows operations managers to purchase supplies and equipment more accurately for better patient care. These cost savings through the effective use of hospital trolleys, allow for better cost allocation. This enables diversified funding towards alternative healthcare areas and working within organisational budgets.
Conclusion
Advance Trolleys offer a range of medical trolleys, well suited to hospital wards, healthcare facilities, dental practices and more. Trolleys can be used for a variety of purposes including instrument storage, patient file transportation, medication storage, and IV holder capacity. Our Medical trolley range is made from a variety of sturdy materials including stainless steel medical trolleys and metals including mild steel. With customisable features offered across a range of our medical trolleys, they are adaptable to suit the unique practice/hospital. For more information about any of our medical trolley range, get in touch with our friendly sales team on 1800 802 224.
