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SCOTTISH HOSPITAL NEWS


AVAILABILITY OF BIOSIMILARS PAVES WAY FOR NHS SAVINGS


T


he recent announcement by Sandoz of the UK availability of two new biosimilar medicines,


which are already available in other parts of Europe, paves the way for cost savings within the NHS that could potentially be reinvested back into the health service.


Biosimilars are biological medicines that have been developed to be highly similar and clinically equivalent to their reference product, but at a lower cost to the NHS.


Rixathon® (biosimilar rituximab) and Erelzi® (biosimilar etanercept) have been designed to treat patients with specific blood cancers and a range of inflammatory conditions. The availability of these drugs has created the potential for increasing


access to these medicines for eligible patients in the UK, in line with the indications of the reference medicines MabThera® and Enbrel®.


‘The availability of new biosimilar medicines,’ said Dr Samir Agrawal, Consultant Haematologist at St Bartholomew’s Hospitals and The Barts Health NHS Trust, ‘which offer equal efficacy to the originator products and provide both patients and physicians more choice in treatment options - offer a real opportunity for cost savings within the NHS, that may then be reinvested back into the health service. This comes at a crucial time for the NHS, which is currently constrained by enormous financial pressure. The hope is that


rapid uptake of the medicines will translate to cost savings for the NHS which patients may quickly benefit from.’


In 2015/16, the NHS spent £16.8 billion on medicines: an increase of eight per cent on the previous year. Last year, meanwhile, the NHS spent over £415 million on rituximab and etanercept, so the introduction of cost-effective biosimilar rituximab and biosimilar etanercept may provide much needed cost savings for the NHS, freeing up resources to improve patient access to existing medicines and contributing to its financial sustainability.


Rixathon will be available for patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) - follicular lymphoma and


diffuse large B-cell lymphoma - and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, as well as immunological diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis and microscopic polyangiitis. Collectively, these diseases affect approximately 416,500 people in the UK.


Erelzi will also be available for various patients with inflammatory conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis - ankylosing spondylitis and non- radiographic axial spondyloarthritis - plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis and paediatric plaque psoriasis. In the UK, more than 2.4 million people are affected by these diseases each year.


FIFE HOSPITALS NOW ‘CONNECTED’


2017. More than 80 per cent of NHS Fife’s employees are now trained to use the system, which is making health records, referral and waiting list processes more efficient, and is helping to improve patient experience.


Ten hospitals across Fife are now using real-time information to deliver better co-ordinated care for thousands of patients, following the successful go-live of InterSystems TrakCare®.


Frontline staff in all of NHS Fife’s acute and community hospitals are now using the patient information system, which has been positively received by healthcare professionals as a means to support better and safer care, to carry out their work more efficiently, and to replace outdated technology and restrictive


paper based ways of working.


The health board confirmed its decision to deploy TrakCare, a unified health information system, last June, as part of its plans to progress towards a single electronic patient record for patients, and to allow authorised clinical staff access to essential patient information needed to inform important decisions at the point of care.


NHS Fife’s eHealth staff worked closely with clinicians and embedded InterSystems personnel to deploy TrakCare on schedule on 1 April


‘NHS Fife staff worked tirelessly to ensure an effective go-live of TrakCare,’ said Mark Palmer, country manager, InterSystems UK & Ireland. ‘Technology can be a powerful means to connect care and to deliver crucial patient information where it is needed. But for this to happen, it must be accepted and used. NHS Fife is a powerful example of clinical engagement, collaboration, and determination to ensure that technology addresses hospital needs so that the best is achieved for patient care.’


With the go-live of a new patient administration system, phase one of the deployment has now been completed, making NHS Fife the eleventh health board of Scotland’s total of fourteen to use the TrakCare system.


Deployment first commenced in the health board’s emergency


department, before quickly spreading to other clinical areas. Real-time bed management is providing staff with an accurate bed status across the health board, including acute, mental health and community users, helping to manage capacity and ensure patients are discharged in a timely manner.


The system is also being used to manage patients with specific conditions. For example, electronic questionnaires around stroke and diabetes have been built directly into the system. Benefits are now being realised across the health board, which serves 370,000 people across a large rural area.


Phase two of the project will see the expansion of TrakCare to deliver additional functionality including order communications, which will streamline the flow of important information between diagnostic departments and frontline clinical staff. Mental health administration will also be an important part of phase two. In addition, the health board is working with InterSystems to identify other areas of application in order to achieve the most from its investment.


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