Warnings when approaching/exceeding Limits
IsoStock is a real-time record-keeping system that checks against limits. It notifies users and their RPSs when there are problems.
Example:
- Enter a new compound from the side menu on the Compound details screen.
- Enter a value which will push us over the department limit and be close to the site limit. These values will be specific to your department and site
Two warnings are displayed:
1) the compound is approaching the site holding limit
2) the departmental limit has been exceeded
To highlight further warnings:
- Select dispose of this compound from the side menu
- Dispose of an amount the would be over the drain limit
These are the type of warning the end user will see.
These warnings are additionally logged as messages for the department RPS and site RPO. These will be seen when the RPS/RPO next logs into IsoStock.
If there are no issues, the start-up report shows all data. This can also be overridden by un-ticking the Only show problems showing all the data embedded and coloured.
After confirming this screen, warning messages are shown. These are the actual times/users who made the entries that approached/exceeded the limits. Tick them off to confirm they have been read/dealt with.
Searching for Compounds
On the Compound Details screen, there are many options for finding compounds.
- Click Show a list of compounds from the side menu.
- Select availability/age from the drop-down menu
- Select area/user/name
Example:
- Select Currently available
- Select Owned by my department
All the compounds owned by your department will be displayed.
Clicking on the column headings with arrows changes the sort order.
Example:
- Select Of any age
- Select Compound name or code
- Enter UTP
All the compounds (current and disposed of) with UTP in the name or catalogue code will be displayed.
Print this list in the order shown by selecting Print this from the side menu.
Example:
- Select Currently available
- Select In Location
- Select a valid location
All compounds in the location, including those detailed earlier, are shown. Untick the Including sub-samples/in-use (in grey) box to see only the original stocks, and tick again to show all compounds.
- Select Totally disposed of – This will display all the compounds that have been totally disposed of that were in the selected location.
- Double-click the original compound to display its details.
All the transactions made against it are displayed, including all the transactions made against the sub-samples (indicated in grey). Untick the Show transactions for sub-samples in grey; only the top-level transactions are displayed.
Combining Compounds
The Combine function allows the user to take two (or more) compounds containing the same radionuclide and combine them to create a new compound.
Example:
On the Compound Details screen
- Find our compound
- Select Combine compounds from the side menu
The compound will be displayed in red awaiting further information about how much is being used.
- Highlight the compound
- Select Edit quantities
- Enter 15ul
- Click Add another compound to add the second compound (and third etc.).
- Add one vial of one of our compound subsamples
- Enter the details of the new compound
- Click OK – on saving, the new compound is automatically allocated a reference code.
Selecting Find Parent from the side menu will give 2 options, one for each parent compound.
Move Compound
The Move compound options can be used to move the compound in its entirety to a new user, department, location, or any combination of these.
- Select Compound
- Select Move this compound from the side menu
- Click OK – on saving, the transaction will be added, and an automatic transaction to show the original location/owner. The base information will be updated to show the new owner.
Use the Recent Moves button to pre-fill with the details of a recently made move
Adjust Contents
Compounds are frequently supplied in a slightly greater quantity than ordered. This can cause problems with the record-keeping where the system says there is nothing left when, in reality, some remains. Although this problem could be overcome by editing the original quantities, the best way to deal with it is to use the Adjust contents option.
For example, if our original compound was supplied as 500ul, but subsequently discover that we have 100ul more than expected.
- Select Adjust contents from the side menu
- Click Increase total available by…
- Enter 100ul
- Click OK – on saving, a transaction is added to the compound
On this occasion, it is a negative amount. This ensures that the total of all the transactions adds up to the original received.
Requesting from / dispensing to Other Departments
There will be occasions when users would like to have part of a compound owned by another department. However, depending on security access, it is unlikely that you will dispense outside of your own department.
The Request against compound option allows you to place a request for a compound belonging to another department, and subsequently, they can dispense directly against it.
This differs from the Move options as the department remains the compound’s owner, and a new sub-sample is created with a unique reference code for the receiving department.
- Select Request this compound from the side menu
- Enter the details
- Click OK – on saving a transaction is added, notice that the quantity does not affect the totals
To dispense the request, highlight it and select Dispense this request from the side menu. Notice that the information is taken from the request.