A BOURNEMOUTH hospital consultant has launched a national money saving campaign in a bid to save the cash-strapped NHS £78m a year amid the worst financial crisis in its history.

Consultant anaesthetist Guy Titley said staff at Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (RBCH) have saved more than £26,000 and now he is calling on the NHS workers across the country to join the money saving movement #NHSpound.

Just switching the brand of biscuits given to RBCH patients alone will save £16,060.34 a year alone, posting using second class stamps rather than first class and using email where possible will mean a saving of £10,000 and switching the supplier of exercise tubing will cut costs by £120.

According to figures, if everyone in the Trust saved a pound a week, RBCH would save at least £350,000 per year - enough to fund 118,000 patient meals, 37,000 bags of saline or could run a ward for three months, the trust said.

That figure would be £78m if everyone in the wider NHS saved a pound a week, the equivalent of funding 2,228 full time nurses, 26,351,351 patient meals, 624,000 units of blood or 8,253,968 bags of saline.

Guy said the movement began when he called on staff to look at the waste generated in their working days and encouraged them to find small savings they could make each week.

Many of the trust’s 5,000 staff have pledged to make small changes to their everyday routines that could help the trust save significant sums over time. Suggestions include ensuring operating theatres start on time, thinking about the number of paper towels used when drying after scrubbing, growing herbs for patient meals, turning off equipment and lights when not in use and using disposable cups more than once.

Other changes suggested by staff, such as installing more solar panels, are being looked into as means of making further savings.

Hospitals across the country including in London and Newcastle have expressed interest in the campaign.

Guy, said: “When you’re working in the NHS it’s easy to forget the NHS belongs to us as well as our patients. We need to make sure we’re using resources wisely and remember the savings we make directly affects us and our patients. I am proud to work among people eager to make a difference and that’s where the success of the #NHSpound movement comes from – dedicated staff coming together to make changes for the better.

“It may sound like penny pinching, and it is, but those pennies add up. Savings we can make that don’t affect the quality of care we offer can only be a good thing. It makes total sense to take a step back and look at what we can all do to save an #NHSpound.

“The big savings we have made are fantastic but we must remember they started with something small – each stamp is worth pennies – but it’s the sum of our actions that has the power to affect real change. If we all save 100 pennies each week, the NHS would save £78m a year. Now that’s worth shouting about!”

To find out more go to RBCH’s Twitter page @RBCH_NHS

To support the #NHSpound campaign, tweet using the hashtag to suggest ideas.