Cancer Hospital Stockpiles: Strategizing for an Efficient and Sufficient Inventory List of Essential Items

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected health care systems worldwide, resulting in critical shortages of essential items and materials. The available guidelines are of little use for cancer hospitals in low-income and low-middle-income countries. They have been designed for community hospitals serving in a centralized health care network. This study aimed to draft and field test a framework to establish a list of essential supplies that should be stockpiled for subsequent waves of the COVID-19 virus by a tertiary care cancer hospital in a low-middle-income country.

A model was formulated using the consumption trends during the peak month of the first wave of COVID-19 infection to compile a list of essential materials and supplies. Furthermore, costing analyses were conducted to determine the financial benefits of stockpiling.

A proposed list of items to stockpile, including personal protective equipment, radiology supplies, laboratory reagents, medication, and oxygen, was shared with the hospital administration. However, the hospital administration only accepted the proposals for stockpiling personal protective equipment and oxygen.

This paper provides a framework and strategies that cancer hospitals and health care systems can modify and use as per individual, institutional requirements and specifications for stockpiling essential items during the COVID-19 or other similar pandemics.