At the Rennes University Hospital, the new automated drug management system is singled out by the unions. Hundreds of thousands of euros are said to have gone up in smoke throwing valid boxes.
Hundreds of thousands of euros wasted stupidly in a French university hospital? In any case, this is the scandal denounced this Saturday by the SUD-Santé Social union in The Parisian. According to its representatives, for four years, the Rennes University Hospital has been throwing in the trash hundreds of boxes of drugs that are still valid because they have not expired. Blame it on a complicated computer system that often breaks down.
Crates full of cremated drugs
And the finding would be most distressing for these trade unionists. According to them, several tons of goods would have been incinerated during these years. At least twice a month, several boxes would be placed for destruction in the containers for expired products. “We leave in the evening and, when we come back the next day, there is nothing left. Some bottles represent one month’s salary for a contractual employee. Imagine when there are 10 that disappear! It is very hard to live from an ethical and psychological point of view, ”explains in the daily Ile-de-France an employee of the hospital pharmacy, who wished to remain anonymous.
Duplicate orders, broken software …
To understand, it is the dysfunctions of the system adopted by the pharmacy in 2010 that explain this waste. With problems that would start with the delivery of drugs and medical devices in the morning. According to the unions, providers use pallets that are not recognized by the Magmatic robot which then stores them in the basement. Pharmacy agents are therefore obliged to repackage the goods on suitable pallets, in line with European standards, which delays the sorting and dispatch of the products to the departments. The difficulties then continue when it comes time to take in the orders. The computer system works with no less than three different pieces of software which break down regularly.
In the end, as the health services do not see their medication arriving, they place a second emergency order and end up receiving double their needs. Except that products returned to the pharmacy are not returned to the system. Because it requires a long work: ten minutes per product, even for the smallest blister pack, with a cost in paper outputs and labels sometimes higher than the returned drug ”, justify the unions. Conclusion, duplicates in the orders, a surplus of drugs which the establishment must get rid of, and in the end therefore an enormous waste.
An unwelcome scandal in a context of economy on the drug
A shocking story in a particular context too. The Minister of Health, Marisol Touraine, has indeed recently unveiled, in an interview with the daily The echoes, the outline of its plan of 10 billion euros in savings for health insurance. Among the axes of his plan, a merciless fight against the consumption of inappropriate drugs. Expected result: 2.5 billion euros in savings by 2017. Here, these are not unsuitable drugs, since they are thrown away even before being consumed!
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