Is enough being done across the NHS to improve efficiency?
A map that details ways to cut costs and eliminate waste has been updated in a bid to improve efficiency across the NHS.
The NHS efficiency map, put together by NHS Improvement and the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA), indicates ways to improve efficiency using existing resources. It also aims to improve quality and safety, according to the HFMA.
The map is aimed at NHS finance directors and their teams and other staff involved with procurement and supply. It gives examples of successful improvements in efficiency made by some NHS providers.
Case studies in the map include ‘making savings on ambulance fuel’, which describes how East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust is trying to reduce spending on fuel.
Another study explained how Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust saved 30% on printing costs. Before the improvements, the trust had been spending £450,000 a year on printing and faxes with machines ‘purchased or rented in an ad hoc manner from many suppliers with little central oversight’.
Other examples in the map of how to save costs include engaging staff with the efficiency agenda, patient blood management, improving arrangements for advanced nursing care and better buying processes.
Further information
HFMA: NHS efficiency map
