Helping our patients to get the most effective medication for them
University Hospitals of Derby and Burton’s Medicines Management Workstream is making crucial savings whilst continuing to provide patients with the most effective medication for them.
The team has saved nearly £1.4 million since last April, with some of these savings delivered through working closely with commissioners, including the local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and NHS England, to identify more cost-effective drugs.
By closely monitoring drug market developments and tracking medicine spend, the Trust has been able to switch to alternative quality products to those already being prescribed that each bring additional patient benefits, whilst also costing less.
The team has also helped make savings by introducing alternative methods to reduce medicines wastage and increasing the use of patients’ own drugs by encouraging them to bring in their own medicines.
UHDB ranks among the most efficient trusts in the country at keeping costs down in this way, with this multi-disciplinary work involving Clinicians and staff from Pharmacy, Procurement, Finance and Governance.
Alison Brailey, Deputy Chief Pharmacist, said: “We’re constantly looking for new ways we can improve the care we offer to our patients, whilst continuing to be as efficient as possible. Medicines optimisation is patient-centred and allows us to do just that by identifying alternative drugs that offer additional clinical benefits to those which we already prescribe, so that our patients get the right choice of medicine for them, at the right time. This process has also allowed the Trust to find new and innovative ways to save money, which we have then been able to use to further enhance patient care across our hospitals.”