Winner: Patient Safety First Award
In 2020, equitable patient access to medicines varied across health districts and hospitals in NSW. There were over 27 medicine lists (formularies) and over 60 committees governing medicine use within NSW public hospitals. This led to varied patient and clinician experiences and procurement challenges. Available medications were different between hospitals. This leads to inconsistent treatment availabilities and healthcare disparities between metropolitan, regional and rural areas. To address these challenges and improve patient safety, NSW Health initiated a statewide reform.
The NSW Ministry of Health partnered with the Clinical Excellence Commission for this program. The team delivered the statewide rollout of the medicine formulary, and associated governance and procurement processes for over 200 public hospitals. They collaborated with hospital networks/local health districts, HealthShare NSW and eHealth NSW to improve the use of medicines in public hospitals.
Evidence-based medicine assessment frameworks and a centralised statewide committee were established. This committee, which includes a wide range of experts from the health system, reviews medicines for their effectiveness and safety. The state-wide implementation was supported by policy updates, clinician resources and a custom digital platform to host and share formulary information.
The NSW Medicines Formulary achieved significant savings and promotes consistent, efficient healthcare delivery. The formulary has enabled clinical decisions to inform statewide medicine procurement. This project has resulted in almost $100 million in savings in the first financial year.
Meet the other finalists for the Patient Safety First Award.
