Congratulations to our STAR Award winners for Managing Wisely – the Casey Compounding Pharmacy Team! Phuong Nguyen, Aseptic Lead Pharmacist, accepted the award on behalf of the whole team.
(left to right: Rheani Bascon, Prabud Padukkage, Eleen Chand, Phuong Nguyen)
This award is given to a team who actively look for ways to minimise waste and manage resources wisely. This may include developing or implementing a sustainable initiative that reduces waste or cost, improving resource management to provide value back to the health service.
The team were nominated for their efforts in response to a global shortage of iodinated contrast solution in May this year. Due to COVID-19 lockdowns in Shanghai, China, the manufacturing of intravenous (IV) contrast fluid was significantly slowed down and there were global shortages.
Contrast is a critical product used in CT Scans, Coronary Angiography, Interventional Radiology as well as many surgical, urological and other interventional procedures.
Phuong and the team were asked to prepare syringes containing smaller volumes of the contrast fluid to minimise waste.
Despite never being involved in the preparation of syringes of contrast solutions before, in quick time the team commissioned the compounding suite, developed a preparation worksheet and product labelling, established distribution and stock tracking mechanisms and worked collaboratively with a diverse range of clinicians on the syringe volumes.
Across a 12-week period, the team prepared over 500 syringes of contrast saving at least 20L of iodinated contrast to support the diagnostic imaging and surgical teams to work most efficiently whilst global supply chains came back online, ensuring patient imaging access.
“It was a wonderful surprise to win this award,” says Phuong. “Our whole team was quite honoured to be nominated for the award.”
If you would like to nominate a colleague or team, you can do so at any time by visiting the STAR Awards portal. For more information about the STAR Awards program, visit the Monash Health COVID-19 website.
Approved by Karen Lowe