Know when another clinic has received transferred equipment

What this means for your practice

Record an equipment move as a handover: where it is going, who is receiving it and when they confirm arrival. Include any conditions set by your equipment team before it can be used. A new location on a screen does not prove receipt.

What to ask before you choose

Ask to see an item moved between two fictional clinics, including a transfer cancelled before receipt. The register should make the unresolved position clear. Staff should know whom to contact and whether the item can be allocated while the handover is incomplete. Keep the previous location available to explain the history.

Follow the item through the handover

Agree which person records that an item has left and which person confirms it has arrived. During the gap, the register should describe the situation honestly. Showing the destination as a settled location before receipt can make a missing delivery harder to investigate. Staff need an agreed contact for a transfer that is delayed or disputed.

Include any information the receiving team needs before the item can be used, as determined by your equipment leads. The record should point to those arrangements rather than assuming arrival means readiness. Ask the supplier to demonstrate a normal transfer, a rejected delivery and a return to the original clinic. Check the result from both locations' views. The history should explain where the item was expected and who last acknowledged responsibility. Use outstanding handovers as a working list for follow-up, so the register supports finding equipment rather than merely storing a location that nobody has recently checked.

How to check the result

Track transfers awaiting confirmation and assets not found at their recorded location.