Posted on: June 15, 2022
Global supply chain issues continue to cause unprecedented disruptions within health care. It is expected that challenges accessing health care supplies will continue for the foreseeable future.
PHSA Supply Chain has been working to mitigate and manage these issues through:
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Daily collaboration with health authority leads to strategize on how to meet the needs of our clients, patients and residents and minimize the disruption to work flow for staff.
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Determining the most appropriate substitutes for products and when to put critical stock on temporary allocation and restriction
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Consultation with clinical stakeholders to identify the best conservation measures and/or practice changes to address interruptions in access to products.
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Improved connection with product vendors about the length of time a product might be on backorder and estimated timelines for backorder resolution.
The list of efforts will increase as we pursue creative solutions to support increased demand on health care in British Columbia.
What to expect:
- You will see an increase in product substitutions when original products are not available.
- PHSA Supply Chain will identify the best available product substitute or alternate in collaboration with clinical stakeholders.
- You may experience practice changes when a product substitution is not available.
- You will be asked to conserve supplies for situations when they are needed most.
How you and your teams can help:
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Supplies are now a limited and valuable resource that we cannot waste: take the minimum when entering a patient room and prepare to go back for additional items on demand
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All health authorities to collaborate and share strategies for conservation efforts.
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Use clinical judgement to limit product use when possible and continue to ensure that the patient receives appropriate and necessary treatment.
As the situation evolves, further communication will occur. For immediate questions or concerns, please reach out your HA PHSA Customer Service representative; contacts are included at the Customer Portal website.
Together we will get through these challenging times. Thank you!