By Lauren Pester on February 4, 2022
As the NHS continues to respond to the pandemic, resources such as time and manpower are being squeezed, yet there is an ever growing need to ensure that savings and efficiencies are made to reduce the financial burden. According to a recent Kings Fund study the total budget for 2020/21 was more than £50 billion higher than in 2019/20 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic[1].
Things are changing quickly, and priorities are evolving every day. There is a need to be agile in providing services in order deliver solutions and to make big changes happen fast. Service providers need to adapt to new ways of working and find ways to add value to the NHS.
Being able to respond to a new NHS initiative can be a challenge as NHS clinicians and managers battle to manage competing priorities. Which is why Spirit Health launched a free prescribing savings audit programme to medicines management teams across the UK. The audit can be carried out within 2 weeks of sign off and will highlight savings and efficiencies on current spend – meanings savings could be closer than you think. You may have the data and expertise within your current team to deliver this yourselves, however we are offering to do this for you within a short time frame ensuring it frees up your capacity whilst giving you something tangible and useful to work from.
This report will help identify areas where large savings can be made as well as potential quick wins, by working together, more medicines optimisation workplans can become a reality. Should you then wish for us to act upon any of the identified areas where savings can be made, we can offer our Active Implementation service to get the job done quickly and efficiently without impacting significantly on your own resource.
Active Implementation works in partnership with you to deliver medicines optimisation programmes in your locality. It’s a full end to end, bespoke service delivered by our team of in-house pharmacists, nurses, and technicians. This includes full patient audits and remote or face to face training to both patients and staff. Our approach ensures that you are fully engaged in an open and transparent way throughout the process and all Governance and local guidance is adhered to.
Getting Started: NHS Direct Oral Anticoagulants Guidance
Spirit’s Active Implementation service could also be useful when considering the recent news that the NHS is now dramatically scaling up the use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), set to benefit as many as 610,000 patients over the next 3 years[2]. The drugs prevent strokes by treating and preventing blood clots in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), a condition that causes an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate. The agreement follows on from NICE recommendation that DOACs are more effective for the prevention of AF-related stroke than other anticoagulants[3].
Spirit’s Active Implementation team can assist in reviewing patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and optimise their DOAC therapy, this will both increase your own internal capacity and quickly highlight prescribing savings, whilst finding the best treatment for your patients.
Let Us, Help You
To find out more about how Spirit Health can support your Medicines Management team or to enquire about your free prescribing savings audit, simply email meds-op@spirit-health.com and we’ll be in touch to get the ball rolling.
[1] https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/audio-video/key-facts-figures-nhs
[2] https://www.england.nhs.uk/2021/11/thousands-spared-strokes-thanks-to-new-nhs-drug-agreements/
[3] https://www.nice.org.uk/advice/ktt16/resources/anticoagulants-including-directacting-oral-anticoagulants-doacs-pdf-58757956094149#:~:text=The%20NICE%20guideline%20on%20chronic,specified%20risk%20factors%20for%20stroke
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