Interface partner with the IOW CCG to help implement national pen needle guidance

Interface partnered with the Isle of Wight CCG to help improve the prescribing of pen needles across the 141,000 patients registered to the 16 practices that make up the CCG. The partnership demonstrates clearly how updated guidelines can be adopted and efficiency savings realised within pen needle prescribing.

A consultation was held with Interface Clinical Services, David France, the lead of the medicines optimisation team at the CCG and the diabetes team at the NHS Isle of Wight NHS Trust to discuss prescribing strategies and reduce pen needle spend in the area. This involved selecting a shortlist of low-cost pen needles and inviting a sample of people living with diabetes on the island to try each, rating for ease of use and comfort. Following the release of the updated formulary, the CCG partnered with Interface to support adoption of the formulary.

At the time of writing, Interface have worked with 15 of the 16 sites delivering an estimated annualised cost saving of £44,000 with 94% of appropriate patients using the recommended needle at the conclusion of the project.

Francisco Alvarez, a practice pharmacist at one of the involved sites commented ‘<em>The process that Interface followed to identify, collect data and review our prescribing was seamless. I didn’t have to run searches, swap product or even send out letters which saved me time that I utilised to conduct Polypharmacy reviews as well as other clinical tasks. It was a great help to both the practice and our patients.’</em>