How can trusts save money at the same time as making sure patients get exactly what they need?
According to United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust, just by making simple changes, with support from NHS Supply Chain.
It took a simple request for a cuff at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust to identify that spend on cuffs had increased significantly on the previous year.
Single patient use blood pressure cuffs had been in use for some years at the trust. As the trust’s procurement staff looked to order a particular type of cuff for isolated patients, a compare and save review was triggered. The review revealed a spend of over £9,000 per month on cuffs, an increase of 31% on the previous year.
Beyond this, the trust also found that utilisation of single patient use cuffs - where a cuff is for just one patient - varied across the wards and hospitals. For example, one admission unit used five times the number used at their counterpart unit in a different hospital within the trust. Additionally, the average effective life of single patient cuffs is one week. However as some were not dated, it was impossible to say how long the cuffs had been in use!
Alongside addressing these issues, the trust introduced a simple system of using the single patient use cuffs with patients in isolated settings, and non-isolated patients having reusable blood pressure cuffs. Training was provided for staff to make sure that they understood the changes.
NHS Supply Chain supported the trust in delivering significant savings resulting from the new system. Spend on cuffs fell significantly from over £9,000 per month to a consistent monthly spend of around £3,000!
The changes also led to a number of improvements in patient care and staff efficiency. For instance, blood pressure measurement accuracy improved, and the clinical engineering team now spends less time dealing with reports of equipment failure.
The trust’s simplified system meant increased efficiency as staff were able to use the right product in the right place at the right time. This was better for patients’ outcomes as well as making considerable savings which could be ploughed back into patient care.
United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust sets a great example of how working with NHS Supply Chain to review products and simplify systems has the potential to make big savings for the NHS!