Background In 2009 a Surgical Block (SB) opened to serve different surgical specialties. This has led to the creation of a pharmacy (SBP) dedicated to the management of medical devices (MD). These are managed by the SB Pharmacist through a ‘Just in Time’ system. This is a production management and control model that aims to work at peak efficiency.

Purpose To optimise resources through a system of stock management based on the creation of procedural kits and aimed at increasing efficiency.

Materials and methods Efficiency is the ratio of the work done to the resources invested

To evaluate the efficiency of our method of work, we calculated the ratio of the number of kits (work done) and the sum of enhancement of SBP inventories (resources invested): you get a numeric value that increases proportionally to the increase in efficiency.

We compared the data obtained in the years 2010, 2011, 2012, and the first half of 2013.

Results Year: 2010. No. of kits: 1,263 Sum of stock value: 10,856,319.62 € Efficiency: 0.000116

Year 2011. No. of kits: 4,949 Sum of stock value: 11,815,022.34 € Efficiency: 0.000419

Year 2012. No. of kits: 9,075 Sum of stock value: 10,689,400.86 € Efficiency: 0.000849

Year 2013 (first half). No. of kits: 5.516 Sum of stock value: 6,198,453.71 € Efficiency: 0.000890

This shows efficiency increased eight-fold from 2010 to the first half of 2013.

Conclusions The system adopted by SBP leads to a quantifiable increase in efficiency, by this you can take inspiration for application to other realities and other areas.

The SB Pharmacist is a figure capable of interfacing with the surgical staff but also with the administrative and managerial staff, helping to improve logistics and to optimise the available resources. He also helps to ensure the safety of surgery, the appropriateness of use of the MD, the resolution of critical issues and cost reduction.

No conflict of interest.