Medical Records Shelving for a Sussex PCT: Mobile Storage Case Study

A Sussex Primary Care Trust needed to improve the way its patient records were stored and accessed. Medical files were spread across several off-site buildings, creating additional administration and making efficient access to records more difficult.

The solution was to consolidate the medical-records archive into a single location using high-density mobile shelving designed to maximise the available warehouse space while leaving capacity for future growth.

Centralising Patient Record Storage

The Trust already owned an industrial warehouse containing part of its medical-records archive. When an adjoining warehouse became available, the additional space created an opportunity to bring records from several satellite storage locations together on one site.

The brief was straightforward but demanding: provide as much practical shelving capacity as possible within the available building while accommodating the Trust’s existing records and allowing room for future expansion.

For a large records department, centralisation can simplify retrieval, reduce unnecessary movement between storage locations and make better use of staff time and available floor space.

High-Density Mobile Medical Records Shelving

Storage Construction, an established shelving, racking and storage-system specialist, had previously completed work for the Trust, including a mobile shelving installation, mezzanine floor and office accommodation in the original warehouse.

For the adjoining warehouse, a further high-density mobile storage system was specified using Mistral adjustable shelving mounted on Möbilis mobile bases.

Mobile shelving allows multiple shelving runs to share a smaller number of access aisles. Instead of maintaining a permanent aisle between every row, the required aisle can be opened when records need to be retrieved. This can significantly increase storage density where floor space is limited.

Project Capacity and Installation

The medical-records shelving installation was completed in two phases.

Project phase	Shelving installed
Phase one	3,120 linear metres
Phase two	1,560 linear metres
Total shelving	4,680 linear metres
Total shelving bays	585 bays

Completing the project in phases allowed the storage capacity to be increased while the medical-records department continued its normal day-to-day operations.

Both phases were completed to programme without requiring the department’s normal records activity to be suspended.

Adjustable Shelving for Medical Records

The installation used adjustable shelving so shelf positions could be configured around the size and format of the records being stored.

This is important in archive and medical-record storage because inefficient shelf spacing can waste a substantial amount of capacity across a large installation. Adjustable shelves allow the storage system to be configured more closely around the files, folders or archive boxes being used.

The shelving was mounted on a mobile base system to combine adjustable file storage with high-density use of the warehouse floor area.

Antibacterial Powder-Coated Finish

The shelving used in the project incorporated an ActiveCoat antibacterial powder-coated finish.

ActiveCoat is marketed as a hard-wearing antibacterial coating intended to inhibit bacterial growth on coated surfaces. Published product information for shelving using the coating describes testing showing a 99.9% reduction in specified bacteria including E. coli and MRSA under test conditions.

As with any surface treatment, an antibacterial coating should complement rather than replace appropriate cleaning, infection-control and records-management procedures.

Benefits of Centralised Medical Record Storage

The project demonstrates several advantages of properly planned high-density records storage.

• Greater storage density: mobile shelving can reduce the amount of floor space devoted permanently to aisles.
• Centralised records: files can be brought together rather than distributed across multiple storage buildings.
• Improved retrieval: organised shelving and clear locations can make records easier for authorised staff to find.
• Expandable capacity: the storage layout can be planned around existing holdings while allowing for future growth.
• Adjustable shelving: shelf positions can be configured around different file, folder and archive-box dimensions.
• Phased installation: large projects can be planned around the continued operation of the records department.

Planning Commercial Records Storage

When planning shelving for medical records, archives or other document collections, capacity should not be considered in isolation. The specification also needs to account for file dimensions, growth allowance, access frequency, aisle requirements, floor loading, building layout, retrieval procedures and any relevant information-governance requirements.

For conventional document storage, Total Locker Service also supplies commercial cabinets and document-storage products for offices and managed workplaces. Our wider storage range includes commercial storage cabinets and multi-drawer cabinets for A4 document storage.

Commercial Shelving and Storage Solutions

Total Locker Service supplies shelving, cabinets and specialist storage equipment for healthcare settings, workplaces, schools, industrial sites and other commercial organisations across the UK.

Current shelving products and specifications differ from the historic mobile system described in this case study. For present-day products, capacities and installation requirements, contact Total Locker Service with details of the items being stored, the available space and the required capacity.

Need help with commercial shelving or document storage? Call Total Locker Service on 01284 749211 or email sales@totallocker.co.uk.

Historic case study: high-density medical-records shelving installation for a Primary Care Trust in Sussex.

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