The East of England NHS Collaborative Procurement Hub is pleased to announce a new national framework agreement giving trusts and other public bodies access to the provision of regular, reliable, managed appliance prescription services and advice hubs with specialist clinical input. Prescription appliances can include stoma and continence supplies. The agreement can also accommodate any other suitable appliance-based services.

This framework was developed following the Hub’s research into stoma care services in the region with the aim of assisting trusts in delivering patient-focussed services and aiding improvements to patient care whilst achieving cost saving efficiencies by reducing waste from overprescribing and overordering.

Benefits of the framework include:

• delivers a better quality of life and more independence to patients
• reduces complications through regular interactions with patients, delivering improved clinical care
• patients remain central to decision making over which products are used and are offered a reasonable choice
• ensures items issued are cost-effective and quantities supplied are in line with a patient’s clinical needs, delivering value for money for commissioners
• helps patients to make an unbiased and objective choice of dispensing appliance contractor (DAC) or local pharmacy - patients can choose or amend their dispensing organisation (DAC or community pharmacy)
• reduces overprescribing and overordering thus reducing waste and supporting potential cost saving efficiencies - suppliers will work with Participating Authorities to monitor and reduce instances of overordering
• improves prescribing control through consistent application of prescribing guidance and locally agreed accessory formularies reduces unwarranted variation of products
• frees up GP time by having specialist nurses managing prescriptions to add clinical value to the prescribing process
• ensures suitable quantities and products are prescribed, reducing primary care administration time for GPs.

For more information, please see the APMS marketing sheet on our website.

Alternatively, please contact Jill Kettle, Clinical Products & Services Specialist, Jill.Kettle@eoecph.nhs.uk, or David Olusanya, Procurement Specialist, David.Olusanya@eoecph.nhs.uk.