June 29, 2015 Industry news
John Warrington delivered a compelling progress report at our healthcare conferenceof the Department of Health’s ambitious plan.
In 2014, the Department of Health mandated the use of GS1 standards in the eProcurement strategy. The strategy aims to achieve £2bn in efficiencies throughout the NHS which means all NHS Trusts must adopt GS1 standards – and their suppliers.
John Warrington is Deputy Director of Procurement Policy & Research for the Department of Health and has responsibility for delivering the £2bn efficiency savings.
What’s happened since 2014
- The NHS Five Year Forward View calculated that the NHS would need to make 2-3% net efficiency savings per year until the end of 2019-20. Any incoming administration would need to find a further £8bn if the £30bn gap is to be closed.
- In a talk at the NHS Confederation conference, Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health, puts embedding efficiency and best practice procurement processes as a priority.
- A landmark review into NHS productivity led by Lord Carter – backed by the Department of Health – highlights typical savings of £3m every year for every hospital that adopts GS1 standards – as well as improving patient safety. Across the whole NHS, these changes could result in savings of up to £5 billion every year.
There is now more and more focus on making better use of resources and spending across the NHS. Wasting time and money is no longer an option.
The work that’s being done
The Department of Health has been working with 22 Trusts to understand the differences in operating expenses across the NHS. Being able to collect a granular level of data means that cost differences can be analysed line by line.
- There is no common way across Trusts of analysing data
- Only 50% of net non-pay is covered by POs
- Only 50% of PO spend can be matched at item level due to poor data
- Only 15% of Trusts have accurate inventory data
- Pricing information is sketchy and often doesn’t cover rebates
With so much inaccurate and incomplete data, it’s impossible to know what and how much Trusts are buying to deliver care.
John Warrington echoed Lord Carter’s view that the problem must be fixed.
So, how do we fix the problem?
A single electronic catalogue across the NHS
The Department of Health is working to establish a national Product Information Management (PIM) system for the NHS, acting as a single route for data between the GS1 Global Data Synchronisation Network and all Trusts.
Using this approach, Trusts can easily access accurate and transparent product information – enabling more accurate ordering, improved product availability and lower costs. And, in turn, help drive efficiency and improved patient care.
A model hospital of efficiency
Six NHS Trusts are being fully-funded for early adoption of GS1 standards, covering a range of Trust sizes, services offered and complexity of patients treated. The Department of Health is making funding available to these demonstrator sites to fast-track the full adoption of GS1 standards across the whole of each chosen Trust.
This will give insight into the practical challenges and opportunities of adopting GS1 standards in a live healthcare environment and provide an invaluable measure of objective metrics. It will also give a true validation of how GS1 standards work in a hospital setting – with the real costs and benefits that can be achieved.
A major output of the demonstrator site activity will be clear guidance and best practice – and UK based exemplars – for other NHS Trusts.
GS1 standards implementation is no longer a good thing to do. I think it’s really, really essential for delivering these efficiencies and I can’t see how you can do it without GS1 at the heart.”
John Warrington
Warrington closed by emphasising the urgency of progressing with this plan and the adoption of GS1 standards if the NHS is going to deliver the ambitious targets it absolutely must meet.