Fridge Temperature Recording Sheet For Care Homes With Instructions printable pdf download

Good Practice Guidance 6: Refrigerated Medicines in Care Homes

For all staff responsible for storing medicines in care homes

Aim:

To outline the controls that should be in place to ensure safe storage of medicines that require refrigeration.

Care Homes should have their own policy for storing fridge medicines within the home.

The ‘four Rs’ of monitoring refrigerator temperatures:

Read:

Read temperatures at least daily

Record:

Record temperatures on a standard form, including signing

Reset:

Reset after each temperature reading

React:

React by taking action if temperature is outside +2 ° C to +8 ° C and document this action

Fridge Requirements:



Medication that needs to be refrigerated (e.g. insulin), should be stored in a separate, secure, fridge that is

only used for medicines (do not keep any food or pathology samples in medicines fridge)



The fridge should either be locked or kept in a locked medicines room. Staff should be aware of key storage

and access



When medicines requiring refrigeration are received within the home they should be immediately identified

and placed in the medicines fridge



Check that the fridge wall socket (where it is plugged in) is clearly labelled to leave on so that it does not get

inadvertently switched off at the wall. (Some pharmaceutical fridges are directly wired so that this cannot

occur)



All fridges where medicines are stored should be serviced at least yearly



Store medicines in an orderly fashion on shelves, not on the floor of the unit, or in the door. Avoid overfilling

and keep a space between boxes and vials for proper circulation. Do not keep large amounts of medicines in

the fridge as this can lead to inadequate air flow and potential freezing. Medicines should not touch the

cooling plate in the back of the fridge



Specialised refrigerators are available for the storage of pharmaceutical products and must be used for

vaccines and diluents. Vaccines should NOT be stored in domestic refrigerators. For further information on

vaccine storage please refer to The Green Book



Ensure fridge medications are regularly date checked and the stock rotated



All fridges should be cleaned as part of the general cleaning rota and dated records kept. Domestic fridges

(that are not self-defrosting) should be defrosted regularly and dated records kept. The home policy should

state where the fridge contents should be refrigerated whilst cleaning takes place

Thermometer Requirements:



The medicines fridge must be monitored using a thermometer which measures both the minimum &

maximum temperature. The thermometer, or its temperature monitoring probes should be sited in a central

location within the fridge, preferably between the products - they should not be placed in the door

Fridge Temperature Recording Sheet For Care Homes With Instructions

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