Cash injection: the Syreen syringe

The UK Coalition government is pressing on with a radical shake-up of the NHS despite opposition from unions, health academics and MPs. No one, it seems, can agree on what needs to be done with one of Britain’s best-loved institutions, but everyone is keen for something to change.

Last month’s report by the National Audit Office (NAO) into the NHS’s spending habits made for interesting reading. Much of the press coverage focused on the revelation that 61 trusts bought 652 different types of medical gloves and 21 types of A4 paper between them. This spending comes at a time when the NHS is hoping to make £20bn of savings, which health secretary Andrew Lansley wants to reinvest more effectively.

The NAO believes that £500m of this total could be saved as a result of hospitals improving the way they buy their supplies. Dig a little deeper, however, and it’s not just procurement habits that could provide a relatively simple solution that would help the Department of Health’s money troubles. Waste is another big issue, and one that could be curbed relatively easily, according to Serge Roux, an industrial designer with technology group Cambridge Consultants.