By Lauren Pester on December 6, 2021
A Tough Winter Ahead…
As we head into the long winter months, the NHS is understandably under considerable strain, not least due to a continuing extensive vaccine rollout to combat COVID-19. Whilst those on the front line bear the brunt of this, all areas of the NHS will feel additional strain, including Medicines Optimisation teams.
Medicines are the most common therapeutic intervention and the second highest area of NHS spending after staffing costs. Medicines optimisation work, therefore, plays a vital role in improving health outcomes and ensuring the most efficient use of NHS resources. With Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) replacing and taking over commissioning functions from CCGs in April 2022, moving to a strategic resource planning approach, Medicines Optimisation will become one of the golden threads that run between all sectors of care, whether in prevention or treatment.
Don’t Panic, We Can Provide You with a Free Prescribing Saving Audit
Medicines Optimisation teams throughout the UK will be faced with the same challenge to save money and time within their CCGs and Health Boards, whilst also juggling with the transition into ICSs and the impact of COVID-19 on their services.
How can we help? Well, Spirit Health has launched a free prescribing savings audit, designed to quickly identify opportunities for formulary cost rationalisation and improvements in patient pathways and quality of care while saving Medicines Optimisation teams significant time and resource.
The audit will be carried out using the latest prescribing data to benchmark a CCG’s spend against the 25th percentile of the most cost effective CCGs & Health Boards (HBs) and national averages, highlighting key areas for significant savings. We will identify quick wins, as well as large scale programmes that can be delivered at scale. Audits can also identify the ‘why’ in your overspend and help you find a suitable solution.
Should a CCG or HB want Spirit to act upon the audit’s findings, we can do this through a full end to end Active Implementation service. A collaborative, transparent, product-agnostic approach, delivered by a team of Nurses, Pharmacists and Technicians, to make health easy for healthcare professionals and patients alike. This collaborative approach keeps the individual GPs in control, but with the heavy lifting carried out by Spirit so as not to impact on workloads. This includes patient audits, communication and if required, clinics and training.
Chris Baker, spokesperson for Spirit Health said: “Our medicines optimisation solutions are designed to do the heavy lifting that will release workforce, time and capacity to focus on supporting the transition from CCGs to ICSs and the implementation of cross-sector working. We work with you to improve communication and encourage joined-up provision. Medicines Optimisation sits at the heart of effective care delivery and therefore warrants a long-term partnership approach, rather than one-off interventions.”
Spirit Health is able to offer a unique funding model, in line with each provider’s individual requirements, designed to facilitate the transition process as cost-effectively as possible.
Flexible ways to pay for active implementation
- A fee
- A gain/risk share plan – pay with a proportion of the savings you make
- A payment method tailored to you – we’re happy to chat
Crucially, we’ve also adapted our way of working. At a time when CCGs were looking for innovative ways to restart their formulary implementation programmes while keeping face-to-face contact low where required, we were able to maintain a “business as usual” approach through digital solutions. We adapted our services to offer virtual active implementation to our customers. Our solution ensures minimal impact on time and resources with GP practices still retaining overall control. In line with NHS governance protocols we can offer support with auditing, patient selection and training for both staff and patients, all remotely, reducing the burden of delivering efficiencies.
Get started with us today
If you would like a no-obligation review of your prescription savings programmes with a trusted partner, get in touch today and let’s get started.
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