SusQI Case Study – reducing disposable bag use within the pharmacy department

SusQI project completed as part of Gloucestershire Hospital NHS FT Green Team Competition 2022 by the Pharmacy Team.

Team members:

• Millie Harris – Clinical Pharmacist
• Jason Bell – Mental health Lead Pharmacist 

Project Aim:

Phase one:

• To reduce the number of bags used for inpatient supplies by >80%.
• To reduce the number of paper bags used for outpatient supplies by >30%, for patients waiting for their prescriptions

Phase two:

• To replace 70% of our disposable transport bags with reusable bags.

Results: 

Environmental Sustainability: 

Based on an outpatient bag reduction by 30% across both sites and an inpatient bag reduction by 80% across both sites, we  estimate a reduction of 957 kgCO2e per year (2,754 miles driven in a car). There is an estimated saving of 50,000 plastic bags and 60,000 paper bags per year across both sites.

The replacement of disposable to re-useable transport bags will result in a saving of approximately 18,500 disposable bags per year. There is an anticipated saving of 1,751.34 kgCO2e per year, or 5,560 miles driven in a car per year. 

Economic Sustainability: 

Based on a reduction of 50,000 plastic bags and 60,000 paper bags per year across both sites we estimate a saving of £2,500 per year. Phase two: Based on a replacement of 18,500 transport bags per year with 80 re-usable transport bags, we estimate a saving of £5,000 per year.

Clinical and Social Sustainability:

There have been no incidents of missed doses of medications affecting the patient care reported during out trial period. This will continue to be monitored.

There was some concern that the project could potentially increase the workload for nursing staff who will have to sort medications for patient’s lockers, however there have been no reports from nursing staff that this has been the case, or that sorting loose medications into patient’s lockers has hindered their work.

Click here for more information on the Green Team Competition (including organisation impact reports).