Kelsius protects over 90 pharmacy fridges and freezers at St Vincent’s University Hospital

St. Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH), one of Ireland’s leading academic teaching hospitals, needed a reliable way to continuously monitor more than 90 medication fridges across its campus, including out of hours and at weekends.

St. Vincent’s University Hospital (SVUH), a Level 4 academic teaching hospital in the HSE Dublin and South East health region, provides acute, chronic and emergency care across more than 50 specialisms and houses several national centres.

The Challenge

SVUH needed continuous monitoring of over 90 medication fridges to safeguard medicine quality and stability within licensed storage temperatures. Previously, pharmacy fridges were monitored remotely, while nurses recorded temperatures manually in clinical areas. Areas without 24-hour cover had gaps in monitoring out of hours and at weekends. The new system needed real-time alerts and hospital-wide records of corrective actions.

The Kelsius Solution

Kelsius installed wireless, paperless monitoring for medication fridges, freezers and incubators, with data available through a dashboard and reports. Network controllers at staff bases display sensor information and allow trained, authorised staff to suspend alerts for units temporarily out of service.
A policy defined staff responsibilities during core hours and out of hours, supported by response flowcharts on medication fridges. Alerts go to a designated pharmacy technician during working hours and the Assistant Director of Nursing outside these hours. All alerts require a recorded corrective action. A senior pharmacy technician manages monitoring during core hours and follows up on out-of-hours excursions the next working day.

Results and Outcome

All medication storage units are now monitored continuously, enabling immediate responses. Authorised staff can review alerts, corrective actions and reports remotely, identifying trends.
Three-month reports showed that doors left ajar were the main cause of alerts and most occurred out of hours. Potential maximum savings were approximately €120,000 if all affected stock had otherwise required disposal. The system enables reliable 24-hour monitoring across SVUH and rapid responses to temperature deviations.