Impact of a wound management system on budget optimisation, formulary compliance and variations in care

Rigorous assurance, risk management and governance arrangements that provide the evidence to demonstrate the delivery of high-quality services is the focus for health establishments. For that assurance to be realised and to be of benefit, innovative technology and a method to measure its effectiveness must be adopted in order to transform services (Scobie and Castle-Clarke, 2019).

Auditing services are a vital component of this assurance, which clinicians need to embrace to ensure that services are fit for purpose. Audit results can be a catalyst for change, with the potential to optimise services in several key areas: budget optimisation, reducing variations in care and formulary compliance. City Health Care Partnership (CHCP), Hull, (CHCP, 2021) is a co-owned ‘for better profit’ organisation, investing profits into services, colleagues and the community. CHCP empowers its staff to make improvements in quality in their own clinical areas through the facilitation of best-in-class resources. Through its internal quality strategy, there is a focus on providing evidence to demonstrate the delivery of high-quality services. NHS England (2016) recommended that, by forming partnerships, healthcare organisations along with industry, could achieve the goals of better healthcare for everyone, better care for all patients and efficient use of NHS resources, as set out in the ‘Triple Aim’ (NHS England, 2014). CHCP recognised that, by embracing a digital wound management system, wound care costs could become sustainable while yielding better patient outcomes, improving patient experience and achieving better consistency in wound care practices, via the easier and more efficient procurement of wound care products. This would, in turn, lead to a better use of resources, which would support practitioners within the community setting to deliver the high quality of care that CHCP strives to achieve.