Complexity and Workload of Cytotoxic Manufacturing at a Regional Hospital: A Comparative Study

ABSTRACT Background At The Townsville Hospital, the largest tertiary facility in northern Australia, cytotoxic workload statistics are only recorded as a single quantitative measure – the number of items. Complexity of the cytotoxic products manufactured are not known. Aim To determine the complexity of cytotoxic products manufactured at the hospital; to compare the cytotoxic preparation workload to another Australian hospital; and to ascertain the resources needed to manufacture cytotoxic products at a regional hospital. Method The pharmacy department's medication database was searched to identify retrospectively all locally manufactured cytotoxic products for 4 years from 2008. The complexity score (CS) was applied to each identified cytotoxic product. The CSs were collated and compared to the number of items manufactured per year. Data from Austin Health, Melbourne were used as a comparator. Results Over 4 years, the number of products manufactured dramatically increased by 800% while the CSs decreased by 28%. There was an average increase per year of 266% in the number of items manufactured while the CS per item decreased an average of 9%. Compared to Austin Health, The Townsville Hospital manufactured fewer cytotoxic products of low complexity. Conclusion These workload statistics provide useful data to inform staffing levels and resources required for expansion of oncology services in regional hospitals.