A diagnostic investigation of purchasing data conducted in April 2022 uncovered that the expenditure on clinical products directly from vendors in Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) was significantly higher than those obtained from the NSW Health Centralised (Onelink) Warehouse for the 2021-22 financial year. If no action was taken, consequences would include procurement inefficiencies impacting on the healthcare dollar, compromised patient safety, potential use of poor-quality clinical products and delays in deliveries while resolving vendor order discrepancies.
The Art of Procurement project aims to improve the procurement efficiency of clinical products (with the exclusion of prosthetics) for Westmead Perioperative Unit by 30 June 2023. Key objectives include:
- increase procurement of centralised (Onelink) warehouse items from 13% to 23% by June 2023
- decrease the number of purchase orders for clinical products procured from 13324 by 10% by June 2023 to 11990
- increase perioperative staff experience in the overall procurement process using the Employee Net Promoter score (eNPS) based on seven detractors as a measurement, from -7 to 0 by June 2023.
Due to the vast scope of this project, a staged approach in implementing the solutions was decided on, starting with the Westmead Perioperative Unit and then scaling the implementation across other areas. Below are the solutions that have been developed in collaboration with members of WSLHD Staff and HealthShare NSW:
- A process for internal clinical product requests, ensuring oversight and approval by the Equipment Nursing Unit Manager before purchasing.
- A digital sub-inventory system was implemented in Anaesthetics, Recovery, and the Sterile Stock room.
- The WSLHD Procurement Procedure document was created and ratified by the LHD Policy and Procedure Committee. It is now accessible on the Clinical Products intranet page, providing governance and serving as a knowledge resource for staff.
- Procurement education was conducted by several procurement staff members and ongoing training activities are planned.
An ongoing evaluation has not yet commenced, but the following measures will be utilised:
- Staff satisfaction with procurement processes will be assessed through an Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) question and an Employee Satisfaction Index questionnaire.
- Analysis of centralised warehousing procurement data for the Westmead Perioperative unit will be conducted in June 2023 to track the movement of clinical consumables from direct vendor purchasing to centralised warehouse purchasing.
- Evaluation of education reports from My Health Learning will be carried out to determine the number of staff who have completed the procurement training.
- An assessment of the number of purchase orders and their trend towards increased utilisation of centralised warehousing will be performed in June 2023.
View this project's poster from the Centre for Healthcare Redesign graduation August 2023.
