Do you know how much your continence products cost? To users, thankfully, they are free. But do you know how much the NHS pays for them?

This question is key. Because without costs being controlled, the NHS will not be sustainable.

At LINC Medical we think outside the box to find ways of saving the NHS money. Money saved means more money available for patient care. Everybody wins.

Rethinking products

For every indwelling catheter that is prescribed, a lubricant gel is also needed when the catheter is inserted. The NHS has to pay for two products. But on top of that, they must also pay the costs of two prescriptions. These are fees that are paid to chemists and delivery companies and total £13.45 per item! So even though the cost of a lubricant gel is relatively small, the NHS pays an additional £13.45 on top of the unit price. This is repeated for every catheter prescribed in the UK.

Do you know what is shocking? Very few health care professionals are aware of these costs. I have spoken to a room of 10 health care professionals and none of them were aware of the additional costs associated with each additional prescription item.

When we learned these facts, we realised there is a simple way to save the NHS potentially millions of pounds per year. We included a quality lubricant gel for free with our catheter. And we didn’t put our prices up.

This means that for every LINC catheter that is prescribed by a healthcare professional, the NHS saves £13.45. If everyone used a LINC catheter, it would equate to NHS savings of up to £24 million!