Manchester ICS Slide Sheet Standardisation: Driving Efficiency and Savings Through Collaboration

The Pressure Area Care and Patient Handling team were approached by members of the Manchester ICS, led by Louise Bingham and Janet Dalton. The goal was to reduce product variation and practice across the ICS and hopefully provide a cost benefit.

Sustainability was also a consideration as the team wanted to understand whether there were any sustainable options that could be introduced.

There were eight trusts using 21 different sizes, a combination of handles and no handles, reusable and single patient use and spend across eight different suppliers.

NHS Supply Chain conducted initial spend and product analysis, presenting this back to a number of clinical and procurement stakeholders.

Following an analysis of clinical variation across the ICS, a standard was established: two slide sheet sizes (200cm x 100cm and 200cm x 140cm), both without handles.

Discussions were had over sustainable options – with slide sheets this typically comes with single use versus reusable. Due to variations in laundry services and costs associated, reusable slide sheets were not suitable in this project.

In late 2024, presentations were arranged for suppliers to showcase their products to stakeholders, with evaluations based on predefined criteria such as quality, training, stock levels, and cost. Scores were collated and the lowest scoring supplier agreed to be the supplier of choice.

The project has reduced to a single supplier with two size variations across the ICS. This has an anticipated saving of £27,344.25 per year, with the project going live early 2025. The chosen sheets were single patient use and come with a patient bag to ensure the slide sheet travels with the patient throughout their stay in hospital (for example from A&E to ward, or between wards) with the aim to reduce the number of products used.

NHS Supply Chain played a pivotal role in collaborating with Greater Manchester Procurement for this project. By taking the lead, ensuring clear communication, and organising each stage of the process, they were able to meet the requirements of all Greater Manchester Trusts. The outcome, standardisation and cost savings were a great success.

Janet Dalton, GM Senior Procurement Manager, NHS Greater Manchester

Simon and Val have been extremely helpful during this project and played a significant role in achieving the initial aims for Greater Manchester; standardisation, and cost efficiencies. They have made the entire process easier by managing communication with suppliers and conducting initial complex data analysis, which led to an agreement on standardised sizing.

Louise Bingham, Development Divisional Procurement Partner, NHS Greater Manchester

See our Useful Links section to visit our Pressure Area Care and Patient Handling framework page for more information.