Omnicell announces new contracts with five UK hospital trusts

Omnicell has announced new contracts with five UK hospital trusts in the wake of the recently-released Carter Review.

The five new business contracts will see automated medical supply systems being installed at trusts in the Wye Valley, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells, Southampton, Burton and Gateshead, where they will manage a combined total of £20m of stock.

All five installations will go live in the coming summer.

The Carter Review highlighted that trusts spend around £9billion on procurement of goods and services, £6billion of which is spent by the acute sector.

Around a third of this is spent on medical consumables and a third on high-cost medical devices. However, Lord Carter believes there are greater savings to be had by managing the demand for products via better inventory management systems.

The report stated that 'very few trusts are able to demonstrate even a basic level of control or visibility over total inventory or purchase order compliance that is common practice in other health systems and industry sectors such as retail'. It went on to suggest that a target saving of £700m to 1billion savings on the £9billion procurement spend was realistic.

Omnicell’s inventory management solutions allow trusts to manage and control the usage of medical supplies throughout hospital. The solutions include secure closed cabinets and open scanning systems, which track inventory in real time and cost product usage to patients, healthcare consultants and procedures. This data provides trust management teams with visibility of patient costing and allows them to benchmark and analyse hospital costs. In addition, clear visibility of stock levels ensures that hospitals only order what they really need rather than what they think they need.

A spokesman said: "Our experience of working in partnership with trusts and hospitals up and down the country shows that many weeks and months of supplies are often held, with an outdated or otherwise complete lack of automated system for managing the distribution of these throughout the hospital. This lack of control, traceability and accountability contributes to increased costs and inefficiencies.

"Time and time again we have seen hospitals save hundreds of thousands of pounds in stock holding levels and the consumption of medical supplies by automating their inventory management. On top of this, trusts are also able to rationalise storage space and save clinicians valuable time which can be redirected back into face-to-face patient care.

Paul O’Hanlon, managing director for Omnicell, UK & Ireland, said: “Our existing partnerships with NHS trusts has enabled us to see first hand the results supplies management technology can bring. As a GS1 member we are helping these five trusts to implement and realise their GS1 vision.

"We very much look forward to working with these trusts to automate supplies in their hospital to drive cost savings and efficiencies and ensure a real and sustainable future for our prized NHS.”