A well-stocked exam room holds the same twenty-odd consumables in every room, at a par level set per room per month, with one person responsible for the refill. Most clinics have the list in someone's head, which is why the same two rooms are always short.
The useful number is not the total order quantity but the par level: how many units a single room needs between restocks, plus a small buffer. Set that once and the monthly order almost writes itself.
Here is the list we see most often in Canadian family practice and GP clinics, a par level table you can copy, and the one-page sheet that keeps it running.
What should be in every exam room?
Four groups cover the routine room. Consumables that touch a patient, consumables that touch a surface, consumables used by the clinician, and paperwork stock.
- Patient contact: exam gloves in the sizes the room actually uses, tongue depressors, gauze sponges, cotton-tipped applicators, alcohol prep pads.
- Procedure support: paper tape and cloth tape in the room's working width, adhesive dressings, specimen containers for routine collection.
- Surface and hygiene: surface disinfectant wipes or solution, hand hygiene product, waste liners.
- Clinician and paperwork: sharps container sized to the room, blood pressure cuff in the right size range, thermometer probe covers, requisition and label stock.
Anything that is not used weekly in a room usually belongs in a central stock cupboard rather than in the drawer, where it ages and gets counted twice.
How do you set par levels for a small clinic?
Count usage for two weeks, then set par at the fortnightly figure plus a quarter. For a single GP room seeing roughly twenty patients a day, the numbers below are a reasonable starting point. Adjust with your own counts after the first month.
| Consumable | Par per room | Restock rhythm | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exam gloves (per size used) | 1 box per size | Weekly check | Sizes M and L usually turn over first |
| Tongue depressors | 100 to 150 | Monthly | General-purpose, single-use; store closed and dry |
| Gauze sponges 2×2 and 4×4 | 50 to 100 | Monthly | Keep both sizes; 4×4 is the workhorse |
| Cotton-tipped applicators | 100 | Monthly | General-purpose use; keep the box closed |
| Alcohol prep pads | 100 to 200 | Monthly | Check the pad is still saturated when the sachet is opened |
| Paper tape 1 inch | 1 roll per room | Monthly | Hypoallergenic paper tape for routine dressing retention |
| Surface disinfectant wipes | 1 canister | Weekly check | Contact time is on the label — re-check it after a product change |
| Sharps container | 1 per room, right-sized | Replace at fill line | Sized to the room means fewer half-empty exchanges |
| Hand hygiene product | 1 dispenser per room | Refill at half | Check the dispenser seal after every refill |
The right-sized sharps container is the item clinics most often get wrong. A container that is large for the room sits half full for months, while a small one is exchanged weekly with almost nothing in it. Match the capacity to the room's actual needle volume.
Which consumables run out first?
In the clinics we hear from, the four repeat offenders are exam gloves in medium and large, 4×4 gauze, alcohol prep pads, and paper tape. All four share a trait: they are used by every clinician in every visit, and none of them is anyone's assigned job to check.
The fix is a named owner per room and a weekly sixty-second drawer check, not a bigger cupboard. Ordering to par rather than to spare capacity is also what keeps a case of general-purpose tongue depressors or a 12-roll case of cloth tape from sitting on a shelf for a year after it was bought on impulse.
How often should exam room stock be checked?
Weekly, by the room owner, against the par sheet. Monthly, by whoever places the order, against actual usage. The weekly check catches stock-outs; the monthly check catches par levels that were set wrong. Both take under ten minutes for a three-room clinic.
Our GP and family clinic collection groups the consumables on this list by case quantity so par levels can be ordered in one pass. Start by counting one room for two weeks — the numbers you get will beat any generic list, including this one.
Ordering for a clinic, lab or care home? Wholesale and multi-site ordering covers case pricing and account setup, and the B2B wholesale collection lists the lines stocked for institutional buyers.
Related reading
- For GP and family clinics
- Anticoagulation clinic orders: what drives cost per INR test
- Used test strips and lancets: waste separation for Canadian clinics
- clinic consumables
Buying for a facility rather than a single practice? Request a B2B quote and we will price your volume with Canadian warehouse delivery.
Frequently Asked Questions
What supplies should be in every exam room?
Exam gloves in the sizes the room uses, tongue depressors, gauze sponges, cotton-tipped applicators, alcohol prep pads, paper tape, adhesive dressings, a right-sized sharps container, surface disinfectant, hand hygiene product, and requisition stock. Anything used less than weekly usually belongs in central stock instead.
How do I calculate par levels for exam room supplies?
Count one room's usage for two weeks, then set par at that figure plus twenty-five per cent. Restock to par rather than ordering to capacity, and review the par levels monthly against actual usage for the first quarter.
How many tongue depressors does a clinic use per month?
A single GP room seeing about twenty patients a day typically uses one to two hundred a month, so a par of 100 to 150 per room with monthly restock is a workable starting point. Count your own room for two weeks before you commit to a case quantity.
Which exam room consumables run out first?
Medium and large exam gloves, 4×4 gauze sponges, alcohol prep pads, and paper tape, because all four are used in almost every visit and none is usually assigned to a specific person to check. A named room owner and a weekly drawer check fixes it faster than increasing the cupboard size.
CliniEco Medical is a licensed medical device establishment (MDEL #35334).
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