In 2022/23, the overall cost to NHS commissioners in England for medicines issued in hospitals was approximately £9.45 billion, equivalent to around 49.2% total annual expenditure.* Currently, financial loss attributed to pharmaceutical waste in the NHS is estimated at £300 million annually. This figure includes the cost of unused or expired prescribed medicines, which equates to an estimated 2% of total NHS drug spend** - this is thought to be higher as of 2024.  

Every pound wasted is a pound that could be better spent on enhancing patient care. Effectively, by reducing medicine wastage, pharmacies will save money. Savings have the potential to ensure better value for the NHS so that they can assign funds to areas in dire need of improvement. 

What Is the Difference Between Average and Actual Pricing? 

One of the key benefits of CareFlow Pharmacy is the way it calculates stockholding requirements. Many other pharmacy stock control solutions on the market use fixed ordering parameters and use an ‘Average’ pricing model, i.e. they calculate the value of the stock held in each unit within an organisation based on the average price typically paid for the stock items. 

CareFlow Pharmacy, however, uses the actual price paid to the supplier for each item in stock and calculates the value of stock based on this. Actual pricing gives budget holders a more reliable financial report with accurate stock valuations for each unit within an organisation. 

Stock Control

CareFlow Pharmacy procurement algorithms automatically set and adjust a variety of parameters depending on the demand on each medicinal product, this therefore manages surges in case load as well as reduction A popular example of this is in action is with seasonal medication such as antihistamines. Hayfever tablets are a seasonal drug due to how the effects of pollen on patients are higher during the summer months. There is little to no need for them to be stocked during the colder months as pollen counts are generally low. CareFlow Pharmacy can adjust seasonally when demand is low, avoiding wastage and unnecessary logistical costs. 

This prevents over-ordering of stock, which subsequently reduces the potential for unused drugs to expire on the shelves. This guarantees that expired medication and the number of unneeded drugs on the shelves is reduced. CareFlow Pharmacy helps to reduce time spent monitoring and re-ordering medications through the system. This also leads to a reduction of wastage and risks of having medication available on the shelves that is not required by customers. 

We estimate that pharmacies that switch to CareFlow and fully implement its procurement and stock management capabilities can potentially save up to 10%-15% of their annual drugs budget. The higher end of savings being achieved through rationalisation of stocks across the hospital, process improvement and automation where available. *** Allowing funds to be allocated elsewhere within the department or organisation.

Examples of Global and Regional Savings

CareFlow Pharmacy is used at 350 Hospital sites across 140 organisations in the U.K and abroad. 

The solution is currently used by 60% of the NHS, these statistics include organisational approaches such as the Royal Derby Hospital and even sites on a regional level like NHS Scotland North. This indicates that CareFlow Pharmacy can facilitate whole regions and even sites who wish to move onto one single system. The solution is equipped to support you in your wider ICS digital transformation plans whilst also maintaining the quality of product at an organisational level. 

One of those sites is St Mary’s Hospital, located on the Isle of Wight. After switching to CareFlow Pharmacy, the site recorded around 11% savings on its monthly drugs budget, enabling the whole EPMA and Pharmacy system to pay for itself in three years. CareFlow Pharmacy is also live across the Channel Islands and in regional and national deployments across the U.K. The solution has also been successfully deployed across the Western Cape in South Africa, making it one of the largest operational pharmacy solutions anywhere in the world, with over 200 locations on a single solution over 50,000 square miles. 

Next Steps

To learn more about the CareFlow Pharmacy solution and the potential savings you can make, please check out our webinar and Pharmacy Brochure.  

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