Temperature Excursion Advice

Temperature Excursion Advice

The storage of medicines at the appropriate temperature is an important responsibility for pharmacy operators. This article gives some general advice about how short term deviations of temperature can effect medicines and what actions you can take to mitigate this. 

Excess heat during periods of hot weather is the main cause of temperature excursions in the pharmacy setting. While it is commonly known that storage temperature should ideally be between 15C-25C in general, many SmPCs for medicines stipulate 30C as the higher limit for long term storage. 

It should be noted that the Specialist Pharmacy Service Guidance on managing temperature excursions says that:
Most medicines may be stored at temperature up to 25°C, some allow up to 30°C and some medicines have no storage conditions specified by the manufacturer.
A single, isolated excursion of less than 5°C above the specified maximum storage temperature for less than 7 days is unlikely to have an adverse effect on the medicines.
 

With this in mind, we recommend that expiry dates on orders stored in your MedPoint are no longer than 7 days and that this should be strictly enforced during periods of hot weather, if the temperature in your machine exceeds 25C.

In this way you can ensure compliance with best practice guidance. 

If the temperature of your MedPoint is exceeding the recommended range on a regular basis then there are some practical steps you can take to mitigate this depending on the type of MedPoint you have. 
  
Integrated MedPoint (iSeries)
The integrated MedPoint does not have any cooling system and relies on the ambient temperature of the room it is installed within to be controlled.  We recommend this is an air-conditioned room and:
  1.  The target temperature is reduced during heatwaves to reduce the temperature within the MedPoint.
  2. The timer for the AC hours of operation are altered to ensure it operates out-with normal pharmacy opening hours to help remove heat that has built up during the day.  
In the absence of AC, consider how you can improve ventilation through the use of fans/coolers to ensure good air circulation around your MedPoint.

In extreme weather consider:
  1. Opening the back roller shutter of the MedPoint for a short time to allow a full exchange of air to occur. This can be assisted using a desktop fan.
  2. If the temperature is above 30 degrees for prolonged periods you may need to consider temporarily reducing the expiry period for orders to 24 hours to minimise the period of time medicines are stored above the recommended temperature. 
  3. In extreme circumstances consider temporarily relocating stock to a cooler part of the pharmacy. 

Freestanding MedPoint (SOLO)
The MedPoint SOLO comes with integrated Air Conditioning which generally maintains ambient temperature within recommended ranges. Some local circumstances to do with the colour of the vinyl or proximity to external heat sources can affect the ACs ability to maintain a consistent temperature. It may be necessary to reduce the target temperature of the AC unit during heatwaves. Speak to a member of support for guidance on this.  

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