A hospital trust’s savings on orthopaedic trauma products through NHS Supply Chain has allowed it to reinvest in frontline staff, education and patient care.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust went from two major suppliers to one and is on target to save £850,000 in the first year, with a further £2.8m savings predicted over the next four years.
The trust spent £1.6 million on orthopaedic trauma products in 2019 and wanted to find out if it was possible to drive benefits by moving to different suppliers or by rationalising their supply base through a procurement process. The trust agreed that a proportion of any savings would be invested back into the orthopaedic trauma department.
Staff at the trust set up a meeting with NHS Supply Chain, who manage the sourcing, delivery and supply of healthcare products, services and food for NHS trusts and healthcare organisations across England and Wales. They reviewed their total usage data and converted this into set procedures, calculated the cost of the different supplier options and presented these back to the trust. The different suppliers were invited to visit the department so clinicians could trial their products.
As a result of the savings, the orthopaedic trauma department now has two new nurse practitioners and an educational package costing £340,000. This will support their educational activities over the next four years. The trust will reinvest another future £2.3 million of savings on frontline patient care.
Mr Dan Deakin, Head of Service for Trauma and Orthopaedics at the trust’s Queen’s Medical Centre said: “As an organisation we were oblivious to this opportunity until using NHS Supply Chain.”
The standardised process under the NHS Supply Chain Total Orthopaedic Solutions Framework Agreement was managed and run by regional Clinical Engagement and Implementation Manager, Tanya Smith, and supported by the regional Category Manager, Tristan Langford. Both worked closely with key clinical and non-clinical stakeholders across the trust.
Tanya said: “We were delighted to support the project and help deliver valuable savings. Any organisation interested in finding out more about how we can assist them through the process should contact us. We can facilitate supplier discussions, outline the products available and provide dedicated support throughout.”
For further information about the Clinical and Product Assurance (CaPA) team of NHS Supply Chain, visit: https://www.supplychain.nhs.
