There are many many different types of medical supplies which all perform very different purposes and different methods of action. When you think of medical supplies the tendency is to just think of medicines and other similar types of medical supplies and it often doesn't occur just how many different types are involved. Here we'll look at just a few of the different types of medical supplies and what the term really encompasses. All these things are necessary for hospitals, but might also be found in doctor's or even be useful around the home - particularly if you or a family member are living with a chronic condition.

When it comes to medication there are of course hundreds upon hundreds of different types of supplies. These include things like anaesthetics, antibiotics, chemotherapy drugs, statins, insulin and all other kinds of drugs and medicines with many different methods of actions and uses. An anaesthetic for instance is completely different from a probiotic, not only in their actual use but also in the way they work. Then similarly on top of these things are other types of medications and creams - creams for dealing with skin conditions and even certain supplements can all fall under the term 'medical supplies'.

However the term often medical supplies is used excluding actual medicines. And there are many other things that come under that umbrella term and will be just as crucial for a hospital to treat illnesses and injuries as the actual medications themselves. For example the hospital beds are incredibly important medical supplies that are constantly too low in number leading to patients being rejected or turned away. In order to avoid this being the case it's crucial for hospitals to ensure they have at least enough of these supplies and many spare. Similarly things like gowns for the patients and slippers are all also very important and are things that might not otherwise

Similarly, things like surgical gloves are highly important medical supplies and without these, surgery simply couldn't take place and would be too unhygienic for everyone involved. The instruments then used for these procedures of course are also completely necessary if the surgery is going to carry on - even with surgical gloves there would be little surgery without the knives used. Then there are things like syringes for injected the anaesthetics and the insulin and these need to be regularly stocked up on, particularly as they should for hygiene purposes be replaced after every use - failure to do so potentially spreading diseases such as HIV.

Then there are the more technical pieces of equipment which will involve things like heart rate monitors, blood pressure monitors, CPAP and even drips. All of these medical supplies are necessary for a range of procedures and can't be bought in mainstream shops. Though they wouldn't necessarily always be available from the same places and are very specialist, things like CAT scanners and MRI scanners would also be listed under the same time.