The issue of funding the National Health Service has always been complicated and contentious. From its very inception, the concept of the NHS was met with opposition, with complaints of government control and excessive costs through taxation. In recent years, the issue has been rife with expressions like 'underfunding', 'real terms', 'cash terms' and 'fit for purpose'.

The numbers can be baffling, and so big they almost lose any real meaning. Here's a useful reminder of the scale of the difference: 1 million seconds is 12 days. 1 billion seconds is 31 years.

Scale and Cost Over 70 Years

When the NHS was born on 5th July 1948, it had an annual budget of around £430 million — caring for a population of 49 million people with an average life expectancy of 68 years. By its 70th birthday in 2018, the NHS budget had reached £145 billion per year. Our population had risen to over 66 million, with life expectancy now at 81 years.

In 1948, the NHS made up 11% of the Government's total spending. By 2018 it was 29.7% — meaning for every £10 the Government spends, almost £3 goes to the NHS.

Why Does This Matter?

While the NHS is free at the point of use, it is still paid for through our taxes. As a publicly owned and run institution, it should always strive for efficiency and value for money. Here's an area where an immediate and lasting saving can be made — one that actively benefits patients, staff and the environment too.

Every week, every hospital's operating unit will throw away thousands of single-use, disposable surgical caps. They cost about 15p each to make and cannot be reused or recycled. The money is gone, and the cap goes to landfill or is incinerated. Our solution is simple — switch from single-use disposable hats to reusable theatre caps.

Each hat, embroidered with a clinician's name and role, can be washed in line with infection control policies and will have a lifespan of around 3 years.

Small Changes Make Big Differences

A disposable 15p cap every weekday for a year costs the NHS £39.00 per staff member. Providing that staff member with three washable, personalised hats through Warwick Med costs just £24.00 — a saving of £15 over 12 months. Factor in years 2 and 3 with no outlay on disposables, and that totals £93 savings per person over 3 years.

A surgical unit may have 400 members of staff, so for one site that 3-year saving leaps to £37,200. Then consider there are more than 3,000 operating theatres in the UK performing over 10 million procedures every year. That £93 per person saving becomes £111.6 million. Suddenly it makes a pretty big difference.

Many of the hospitals we work with also have their new reusable, customised caps bought for them by their charitable trusts — a tangible benefit trusts can provide that delivers multiple key outcomes.

Our 3 Benefits

The potential cost savings to the NHS are one of our three overriding aims at Warwick Med. Along with reducing environmental impact and improving communication and patient safety, switching to reusable hats represents a significant saving — allowing the NHS to run more efficiently, deliver on its priorities and continue to innovate and save lives.

To find out more and get a personalised quote on how much your surgical unit could save, please get in touch.