Clinical engagement is a fundamental component in the selection of appropriate devices that are of high quality, safe and fit for purpose. During the global pandemic, the significance of vascular access and intravenous (IV) therapy was magnified. It is therefore vital now, more than ever, for IV and vascular access practitioners to get involved with the work on evaluating the suitability of different devices available to the NHS.
Part of the reason for showcasing the Information for Clinical Choice (ICC) initiative at this year's NIVAS conference was to help further bridge the gap between the clinical and the procurement worlds. ICC provides clinicians with information about the features of similar products available through NHS Supply Chain.
Clinicians’ involvement in procurement came to the forefront in 2016 when the Department of Health and Social Care commissioned senior NHS clinicians to form the Clinical Evaluation Team (CET). The outputs of the CET, which operated between 2016 and 2018, included the publication of 37 reviews, many of which evaluated IV-related products, providing independent, high-quality and unbiased clinical comparisons of devices.
NHS Supply Chain is focusing on the continued opportunity to add significant value to clinicians. The team has created visual documents, profiling the availability of clinically assured products within specific product categories, providing vital information around individual products’ essential features. This documentation provides clinicians and end users with a tool to support them in making clinically informed choices about alternative products, as part of a local switching activity or to help resolve supply disruption issues.
Decision-making support
ICC has been developed to assist clinicians in the decision-making process in assessing the suitability of a product. The aim is to provide clinicians with clear illustrations and descriptions of the features of a range of similar products supplied through NHS Supply Chain.
The criteria outlined in the documentation, which are set out in the form of a product matrix and support document, are the result of a product review conducted by the Clinical Procurement and Quality Assurance (CPQA) team for Towers 1 and 3, with the support of clinical stakeholders across the NHS. NHS Supply Chain is organised into 11 category towers, with Towers 1–6 covering the procurement of clinical supplies.
The main purpose of ICC is to ensure that clinical choice remains at the forefront of any product switching decision. When responding to the lack of product availability and low volume of suspended products due to disruptions to global supply issues and demand management, the ICC provides the relevant information to enable clinicians to make informed clinical choices.
As the matrices are continuing to be built around categories of products, sustainable switching opportunities are being provided to support the NHS in meeting its sustainability targets. The CPQA team also, where possible, includes information about an individual product's weight, country of origin and material content, for example, whether it includes single-use plastic.
Although sustainable alternatives may be more expensive, the ICC team considers that over the long term these will bring financial and environmental savings.
The ICC initiative is the culmination of a truly collaborative approach between NHS Supply Chain and NHS clinicians, coupled with clinical engagement, which provides the right information that enables clinicians to make better informed choices and empowers them to learn more about alternative products to enable them to deliver high-quality care.