Shropshire Community Health NHST Delivers £198,900 Stock Savings with CorrMed’s Community Bags

In April 2025, following a three-month collaboration with Shropshire Community Health NHST to evaluate our range of Community Bags and identify the most suitable solution for its District Nursing (DN) and End of Life Care services, the chosen bags were successfully rolled out to 410 members of staff.

The project was spearheaded by the Infection Prevention and Control team after seeing how the current bags weren’t fit for purpose. After following observations of DN practice subsequent to an outbreak of invasive Group A Strep, where unsuitable and inconsistent bags were being used by staff, the IPC team recommended the CorrMed bags and the Quality Team carried out the QI project.

Following the purchase of the bags, a Quality Improvement project was launched to address persistent issues with traditional community nursing bags, specifically infection prevention, manual handling challenges, and inefficiencies relating to stock management. The new, compartmentalised, IPC-regulated bags are designed to reduce waste, enhance staff and patient safety, and promote best practice in community nursing.

The plan was to conduct a staff survey to assess community nurses’ experiences with traditional nursing bags, focusing on aspects such as organisation, delays in timing, stock waste, handling procedures, and overall staff satisfaction. Alongside this, the team also did a comprehensive review of expenditures associated with dressings and equipment used daily in community nursing bags, including cost and waste.

In the first year of use, Shropshire Community Health has achieved an impressive £198,932 saving on stock alone following the successful rollout of the CorrMed Community Bags across its District Nursing and End of Life Care services.

The initiative has transformed the way essential clinical supplies are managed in the community, ensuring clinicians have immediate access to the equipment they need while significantly reducing waste, excess stockholding and unnecessary replenishment.

By standardising the contents of each Community Bag, it has supported a more efficient stock management process for community nursing teams. Shropshire has improved operational efficiency while delivering substantial financial benefits. The savings demonstrate how smarter inventory management can have a meaningful impact on healthcare budgets without compromising patient care.[FG1] [SV2]  In addition to cost savings, the bags have freed up more time for direct patient care. Staff spend less time sourcing stock because the bags/pouches are pre-packed, and the reduced volume of stock they need to carry has also minimised manual handling.

Following the success of the initial rollout, we are now working with Shropshire's specialist services to extend the benefits of CorrMed’s Community Bags across additional clinical teams. This next phase will support even more clinicians with a consistent, reliable and efficient approach to carrying and managing essential supplies.

Staff feedback includes:

• "The boot bag is fantastic, my boot is now organised and tidy"

• " We now have a professional look and I feel proud when walking into patients homes"

• " We love the kneeling mat"

• "Because of the organisation, I'm now saving time and able to support better stock management"

The continued expansion reflects Shropshire Community’s commitment to innovation, sustainability and delivering the highest standards of care within the community.

Sara Ellis-Anderson, Deputy Director of Nursing and Quality and Deputy DIPC said:

"We are delighted to see the positive impact this project has had for our community nursing teams in Shropshire. The feedback from staff shows that the bags are making a real difference to their day-to-day experience, helping them feel more organised, while releasing valuable time to focus on patient care. The £198,932 saving on stock is an important additional benefit, but the greatest success is that this practical improvement is supporting our staff to deliver safe, efficient and high-quality care in people’s homes. We look forward to building on this progress with our specialist services so that more colleagues and patients can benefit across the county."

As healthcare organisations continue to seek efficiencies while improving patient outcomes, Shropshire's success provides a strong example of how practical innovation can deliver measurable clinical and financial benefits.

CorrMed’s range of Community bags were designed in collaboration with Community Nurses, IPC and Quality teams after hearing the challenges faced by so many Community teams. We took advice and guidance from Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Norfolk Community Health & Care NHS Trust and have created the range of bags known as the Community Nurse 'National IPC' Bags which are now in use across the UK and overseas.

At CorrMed, we design and manufacture our own range of market-leading quality equipment bags, whilst also working with carefully-selected specialist providers to bring new infection control innovations to the UK.