Spirit Healthcare has launched a select woundcare range which offers a simplified solution compared to many current ranges on formulary, with catch-all products that cover a wide range of wound shapes and sizes.
Available on the NHS Drug Tariff; the range dressings are suitable for both post-operative patients and those with a long-term need for woundcare treatment, such as patients with ulcers or other chronic wounds.
The range promises to help clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) realise significant cost savings on current prescribing.
According to the Institute for Pressure Injury Prevention, the annual cost of woundcare incurred by the average CCG in 2017 was £36.6m and this figure is forecast to increase steadily to £55.7m by 2020.
We understand that it can be challenging to manage the broad range and, with so much care being provided in the community, difficult to reduce unwarranted variation, over ordering, and waste
Data also suggests that approximately 2.2 million patients suffer from a chronic wound, with the annual cost to the NHS of managing these wounds and associated comorbidities being £5.3billion.
And, with two-thirds of the cost incurred in the community, and woundcare range products accounting for 12-15% of the total cost, it is clear that woundcare is a significant burden – and one that will likely continue to increase.
With the lack of a national woundcare strategy, CCGs can face unwarranted variation in the supply and use of woundcare products across their service, with variation in a standardised approach to dressing choice, ordering, and stock management issues.
In line with Spirit’s implementation model, CCGs adopting the range will have access to free support to review patients and help practices manage the change to ensure the CCG can quickly realise the savings.
The approach, known as ‘active implementation’, has already demonstrated 700% greater savings on diabetes blood glucose strips formulary change when using active implementation
David Englefield, head of business development at Spirit Healthcare, said: “We saw a gap in the market for a simple, catch-all range that would work as a solution to the complexity of the current market.
“We know that CCGs, nurses, and clinicians currently have a huge range of woundcare products to choose from, often with minute differences between them.
We know from our previous work with CCGs that low-cost solutions are highly valued, allowing vital resources to be redirected to where they are most needed
“We understand that it can be challenging to manage the broad range and, with so much care being provided in the community, difficult to reduce unwarranted variation, over ordering, and waste.
“Our range is the antidote to that and it’s our mission is to make health easy by delivering real value in healthcare and helping to make the best use of NHS resources.
“Streamlining the woundcare market and producing dressings that offer an easy solution for time-pressured primary care teams is part of that commitment.
“Not only is our range easy to use, it is also cost effective. We know from our previous work with CCGs that low-cost solutions are highly valued, allowing vital resources to be redirected to where they are most needed.
“Our range is a quick win for CCGs that is easy to adopt and will enable them to unlock significant cost savings, which we have estimated at 30% against like-for-like products.”
