Transforming Inventory Management through Automation and Traceability

November 12, 2024

CASE STUDY

The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, one of the UK’s largest hospital groups, serves over 1.6 million patients annually across three main hospitals. Committed to world-class healthcare, the Trust sought an advanced inventory solution to improve efficiency, safety, and compliance with national standards.

Genesis was chosen to streamline processes, reduce waste, and deliver real-time clinical traceability across the Trust’s network.

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THE CHALLENGE

Managing inventory effectively across multiple hospitals presented a significant challenge for the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which relied on largely manual stock management processes. Without automated tracking, the Trust struggled with limited visibility and control over essential supplies, leading to inefficiencies and the risk of either understocking or over-stocking. Time-consuming and error-prone, these manual practices required clinical staff to spend valuable hours on stock counts and data entry, drawing their focus away from patient care. The Trust urgently needed a unified system to deliver consistent, real-time insights into stock levels across all locations – one that would enable the Trust to reduce waste, better manage costs, prevent never events (as outlined by the Lord Carter report, GS1 standards, and NatSSIPs) and maintain a consistently high standard of patient safety.

The Trust sought a solution to reduce errors from manual inventory management and improve continuity across its hospitals. Additionally, it needed a collaborative partner capable of ensuring a smooth implementation, empowering staff, and adapting to evolving requirements over time.

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THE SOLUTION

The Genesis implementation brought transformative results for the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, with a £10 million gain in stock visibility that provided crucial data to support informed decision-making across 210 departments.

Automated processes replaced manual tasks, helping to reduce waste and maintain steady stock levels, with over 70,000 orders raised and close to 600,000 items tracked to date.

By standardising inventory data across all hospitals, Genesis enhanced continuity, supported GS1 compliance, and strengthened patient safety through improved recall
management, usage tracking, and data-driven purchasing decisions. Additionally, Genesis significantly improved operational efficiency, allowing clinical staff to focus more on patient care.

The seamless integration with existing workflows enabled a smooth transition and ongoing enhancements across the Trust’s operations.

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PROJECT RESULTS – £10 million stock gains

£10 million boost in stock visibility with automated tracking and streamlined ordering, The Trust reduced waste, improved compliance, and freed up clinicians to prioritise patient care.

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“The visibility and control Genesis provides over our inventory have transformed our approach to stock management. With real-time tracking and automated
reordering, we can now ensure supplies are available exactly when needed, helping us reduce waste and focus our staff’s efforts where they matter most – caring for patients.”

Paul Pilgrem, Partners Procurement Services