Lockable medicine cabinets for healthcare

Lockable medicine cabinets for healthcare

Which type of medicine cabinet do you need?

Wall-mounted medicine cabinets in steel sit close to the patient, in patient rooms, group homes or the home of someone receiving home care.

Larger medicine cabinets in wood often stand in the nurses' office and serve as the central medication store.

Security-rated medicine cabinets are used for controlled drugs and medicines at particular risk of theft.

The Medicine cabinet type filter shows each type separately.

What do the rules say about storing medicines?

The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare's regulations (Socialstyrelsen, HSLF-FS 2017:37) say that medicines must be stored out of reach of unauthorised persons, according to the manufacturer's instructions and in a dedicated medication store suited to the organisation.

Medicines that must be readily available may be kept outside the store, provided this is compatible with safe handling. That is why the patient-side medicine cabinet exists.

What is a Spri cabinet?

Spri, the Swedish Institute for Health Services Development, set standards for Swedish healthcare until 1999. The name lives on for larger medicine cabinets with door compartments and shelves, like our wooden cabinets.

Shelves along the walls and compartments in the doors give a good overview of a large medication store. The Medicine cabinet type filter shows them.

Medicine cabinets for controlled drugs

Controlled drugs and medicines at risk of theft often need stronger protection. Security cabinets rated to the Swedish standard SSF 3492 have a reinforced construction and are used where inspection requirements and theft risk are high.

The Burglary rating filter shows the rated cabinets.

Who should reach which medicines?

Start with three questions: who needs access, which medicines are involved and where they will be kept.

Inner compartments with their own key make it possible to separate medicines only the nurse may handle. Keyed-alike locks let several cabinets open with the same key, which is practical but needs clear routines.

Key lock or code lock?

Medicine cabinets with a code lock avoid handing keys over between shifts, and the code can be changed when staff leave. Several wall cabinets come with a code lock or prepared for other lock systems.

Choose in the Lock system filter.

Space for dispensing and signing

Several wall cabinets have a pull-out work surface or a shelf where medicines can be dispensed, and room for a binder or signing sheet inside the cabinet.

Medical trolleys

A medical trolley carries medicines and supplies between the medication store and the patients. Choose Behandlingsvagn in the Medicine cabinet type filter.

Large or small medicine cabinet?

Start from how much will be stored and where the cabinet will go. The Outer height in mm, Outer width in mm and Outer depth in mm filters show what fits, from small wall cabinets to large cabinets for the medication store.