Farr and Pursey
As an ambulatory practice, it is our responsibility to monitor and manage the storage of our veterinary medicines and vaccines to ensure the best possible outcomes. Previously, temperature monitoring on the move was a difficult and time consuming issue. RemoteM have provided us with an efficient, reliable and affordable solution which takes minimal time to set up and administer, allowing us to get on with doing our job in the knowledge that all our medicines and vaccines are in prime condition at the point of use.- Rick Farr, Joint Director, Farr & Pursey Equine
About Farr & Pursey
Based in Hertfordshire, Farr and Pursey Equine specialise in the treatment of horses, with preventative medicine at the core of the service.
The Background
Farr & Pursey Equine provides a largely ambulatory service, with significant stocks of medicines and vaccines stored in car fridges and potentially subject to fluctuations in temperature. In line with RCVS requirements, the vets were taking temperature readings twice daily and recording these; as well as being a time consuming process, Director Rick Farr was aware of the potential for error.
"We all know how hot cars can get in summer and how cold in winter," he stated. "We obviously monitor temperatures for product held in fridges at the practice, but the nature of our service is that we carry our medicinal stocks with us at all times. We needed a reliable method for monitoring the temperatures of our in-car fridges automatically so we could be totally confident we were administering products in optimum condition. RCVS certification is important to us too, and we needed a system that could be easily audited to demonstrate our continued commitment at inspection times."
The Solution
Farr & Pursey began by searching the market for a suitable mobile solution. Alongside professional commitment to quality and matching and exceeding RCVS guidelines, the opportunity to reduce the administrative workload was also a significant consideration. After a busy day on the road, the vets wanted a system where data could be transferred automatically on return to the practice without spending lengthy time on paperwork.
Standard commercially available solutions involving recording temperature on data loggers are time consuming and reliant on a member of staff having access to the vehicles or storage containers on a daily basis. RemoteM's mobile solution provided the answer.
The system is based on RemoteM's tried and tested fridge monitoring system, and involves placing a base station at the practice premises plus additional nodes in vehicles to log temperatures, collecting readings at regular intervals throughout the day. These readings then upload automatically when the vehicle returns to the surgery and comes into range. Data can be downloaded easily for reporting in line with RCVS compliance.
For those working outside their surgeries for prolonged periods, or requiring more detailed temperature monitoring, RemoteM also offers a 'real time' in transit monitoring solution, involving an in-vehicle battery-powered base station and temperature monitoring nodes. Subject to cellular coverage (now over 95% of the UK landmass) this product uploads temperature storage data to the cloud regularly over each 24 hour period.
Implementation and management
Rick Farr has been extremely impressed with the simplicity of the RemoteM mobile system. "It's definitely 'plug and play'," he confirmed. "We set it up then let it run. We have barely thought about the nodes, we just check in on the readings regularly to ensure that everything is within range. Like most busy vets, temperature logging wasn't always at the top of our list, and now it doesn't need to be, we can be confident that we achieve the gold standard in terms of storage."
Farr & Pursey Equine also use the RemoteM system in ambient storage areas within the practice to ensure medicines and vaccines not requiring refrigeration are kept in prime condition, achieving temperature logging right across the board.
Farr & Pursey Equine works with Investors in the Environment (iiE), looking internally at the business to assess every aspect of sustainability from miles driven through to making sure that products supplied are as environmentally friendly as possible. Rick Farr considers the RemoteM system also makes a contribution here, reducing levels of waste and running efficient refrigeration systems.
"We've had great support from RemoteM on a couple of minor technical issues where clarification was needed," stated Rick. "We're confident that we administer products in perfect condition for optimum clinical efficacy, meeting and surpassing RCVS requirements."