COMMENT: How a review of the NHS equipment portfolio can help secure efficiencies

IT WAS good to hear Jim Easton, the Department of Health’s director of improvement and efficiency, provide further clarity as to where the £20billion savings in the NHS will come from when he spoke at the recent NHS Innovation Expo.

Previous statements from the department had suggested that GP commissioning would be responsible for 100% of these cuts. But this is now down to 20% through a ‘deep service change’.

Hundreds of millions of pounds can be saved by conducting an indepth review of the NHS’s equipment portfolio, which by reducing appropriately can not only drastically cut budgets, but save time, space and day-to-day running costs

Approximately 40% would come from cutting manager numbers and pay freezes across the NHS, confirmed in the Chancellor’s Budget, which announced a two-year pay freeze. The remaining 40% would be down to improving hospital performance and ‘massive’ reductions in NHS estates and pathology services.

 

These are still huge figures, but hundreds of millions of pounds can be saved by conducting an indepth review of the NHS’s equipment portfolio, which by reducing appropriately can not only drastically cut budgets, but save time, space and day-to-day running costs.

 

Less equipment does not equate to a poorer patient service. Indeed, if planned properly, a leaner, more-efficient portfolio of equipment with up-to-date technology can lead to major improvements. For example, some trusts have a history of purchasing additional equipment as the departments have grown or requirements changed. This can lead to very expensive pieces of equipment being under-utilised while other items are operating at, or close to, full capacity. This is often accompanied by lack of data, which means that it is difficult to ascertain the real requirements of the trust and to justify new purchases of equipment.

 

The solution lies in conducting a detailed and expert analysis of equipment portfolio, starting with an audit and reviewing the trust or department’s clinical needs in line with financial constraints

The solution lies in conducting a detailed and expert analysis of equipment portfolio, starting with an audit and reviewing the trust or department’s clinical needs in line with financial constraints. This requires strategic intelligence; an indepth understanding of the equipment available, its capabilities and how it might best meet patient’s and the trust’s requirements.

 

The DH’s Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) challenge is all about driving efficiencies while redesigning services to improve quality and efficiency. Surely analysis of expensive, and too often inefficient, equipment is one of the most obvious places to start?