Book Title	Hospital stores management - an integrated approach
Author	Shakti Gupta & Suni Kant
Publisher	Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (P) Ltd. New Delhi
Price	Rs. 300.00
Reviewed By	Rajiv Kumar Jain, India Railways Medical Service, 480, Sector 37, Faridabad - 121003, Haryana, India
Review	There are very few books on Hospital Stores Management written specifically to cater to the needs of hospital administrators and Store officers, students of Hospital administration as well as suppliers and manufacturers of pharmaceutical products and biomedical products in India. This book fills that gap admirably. The authors have more than 18 years of experience of hospital stores management at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. The book has successfully attempted to deal with theoretical and practical aspects of stores management. One of the unique features of the book is that it has specimen of tenders, supply orders, annual maintenance contract. The book also has a specimen of tender for supply of imported equipment. This makes the book a companion for all health care functionaries including clinicians. In just 265 pages, (221 pages text) the authors have been able to comprehensively and exhaustively cover the areas of stores management in a simple, lucid and effective manner. Special note must be made of chapters on Stockless purchasing, Role of Computers in stores Management, Strategies for Hospital Equipment planning and selection, Equipment Audit, Productivity and Hospital stores Management, Arbitration, Legal and Export Policy, Import of Goods, Equipment, Import documentation and Customs Clearance and Continuous Quality Improvement in stores Management. The authors could also have identified and categorised the hospital equipment and goods usually required to be imported in India in the current scenario, this would have made it more useful for hospital administrators. Many times an equipment is manufactured in India yet the imported one is preferred. The hospital administrator needs guidance in taking such decisions in a scientific manner. Web-based purchasing, tendering and management of hospital stores also needs to be covered in more detail, specially with increasing trend of e-commerce. The book is very well organised and the chapters are well arranged. The contents are authentic, easily understandable and have been explained with examples. In the next edition, more flow charts, diagrams could be incorporated, Also, summary of each chapter in the beginning or end in a box format could be a useful method to make it more user friendly, Glossary, Bibliography and index is well organised. Though index could have more items and cross-references, The book presently available in hard bound from. A paperback edition would be more welcome in being able to increase the penetration of the book to all levels of health care institutions and functionaries. One cannot but agree with Prof. PK Dave, Director, AIIMS, New Delhi who has opined in the foreword that this book" is the only comprehensive textbook on the subject of Hospital Stores Management which is currently available. The book will prove to be of significant utility for all those for whom it is intended". Both Dr. Shakti Gupta and Dr. Sunil Kant need to be complemented for taking all the pains to ensure production of a impressive, useful textbook on Hospital Stores Management thus filling a gap in the availability of good quality textbooks in the area of Hospital and Health Administration in India. One can only hope that the book is regularly updated and future editions are much in demand due to its usefulness to functionaries at various levels of health care institutions. Rajiv Kumar Jain India Railways Medical Service 480, Sector 37, Faridabad - 121003, Haryana, India E. mail : [email protected] mailmetoday. com