Omnicell helps NHS Trusts manage medical inventory

Omnicell UK and Ireland has announced new contracts with five hospital Trusts in the wake of the Lord Carter report

The five new business contracts will see automated medical supply systems being installed in Wye Valley Trust (Hereford), 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 Lord Carter report highlighted that Trusts spend around £9bn on procurement of goods and services, £6bn 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 that 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 £1bn savings on the £9bn procurement spend was realistic. 

Omnicell said its inventory management solutions allow Trusts to manage and control the usage of medical supplies throughout hospitals.  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, according to Omnicell.

Paul O’Hanlon, managing director for Omnicell, UK and 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 five Trusts to automate supplies in their hospital to drive cost savings and efficiencies and ensure a real and sustainable future for our NHS.”