CLIQ locking system saves NHS nurses’ time, upgrades drug safety and improves healthcare delivery

Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust provides emergency and acute healthcare to around 350,000 residents in the North-East of England, typically handling 135,000 emergencies and 400,000 outpatient appointments every year. It manages an annual budget of around £300 million. The Trust was looking for a secure locking system to control access to drug cabinets across three hospitals and for a staff roster numbering around 6,500.

Key requirements included:

• A modern replacement for the current mechanical locking system, which compels nurses to waste valuable time searching for the ward manager or the right keys;
• A unified locking system that works across several types of closure, including drug cabinets, cupboards and medicine fridges;
• A streamlined system to deliver time savings for staff and patients, as well as cost savings for the Trust.

PROTEC² CLIQ^® electromechanical locks

Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust installed the PROTEC² CLIQ® electromechanical locking system from ABLOY with remote functionality on one of its wards, to secure drug cabinets, cupboards and fridge padlocks. Each nurse was issued with a single, programmable CLIQ® keys that would only open locks that corresponded with his or her individual needs and authorisation.

The security benefits? Access rights in each key can be changed or revalidated whenever required; lost or stolen keys are instantly deleted. Audit trails can be generated for any CLIQ® cylinder, so drug and medicine safety is enhanced. Cylinders are easy to install and powered by a standard battery inside each key, thereby minimising maintenance costs. Changing a battery is simple, and is notified automatically.

Was the trial a success? According to one ward manager: “Each nurse had their own key so there wasn’t any time wasted searching… it was so simple and easy.” According to Mike Urwin, Chief Pharmacist and Clinical Lead for Medicines Management at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, a nurse typically spends 40 minutes per shift looking for keys – wasted time that is eliminated by CLIQ®. If the system was on every ward in the Trust, eliminating that wasted time equates to having an additional 24 nurses on duty every single day.