Health services gather to collaborate on future pharmaceutical procurement strategy

HSV’s Pharmaceutical Procurement team hosted the first of two pharmaceutical procurement strategy workshops earlier this month at HSV’s Lonsdale Street office.

Thirty procurement leads from across Victoria attended along with a cross-functional team from HSV, to provide input and advice on the future pharmaceutical procurement strategy.

HSV Head of Pharmaceutical Sourcing Elma Collins said the aim was to bring everyone together to create a meaningful and relevant plan for the next five years.

“It was the first time many people in the room had got together since before the pandemic. There was a lot of excitement about how these ideas can be translated into opportunities, she said.

The first part of the workshop involved a brainstorming activity, and participants were then asked to prioritise the ideas put forward. While much of the focus was on the future of the Pharmaceutical Products and IV Fluids category, the group also discussed initiatives outside of the current scope.

Elma said a total of 25 initiatives were proposed at the workshop and after reviewing the prioritisation of results from attendees, the team will focus on the top 10 priorities for potential short and long-term benefits. These will be presented to attendees at a second workshop in July.

Director of Pharmacy at Albury Wodonga Health Alan Tuxford said the workshop was a good opportunity to engage with HSV as well as other health services.

“For me as a newbie to my role, it’s wonderful getting to meet more of the HSV team. It’s also been a very valuable experience to get an understanding of the issues other hospitals are experiencing and what their thinking is on those. The exchange of information and ideas has been helpful,” he said.

Barwon Health Pharmacist Derek Chai said the event was a great opportunity to hear different perspectives from other health services.

“It’s also been interesting to hear about the challenges that HSV faces. The workshop is a great way to open the lines of communication and very important to build upon.”

Chief Pharmacist at Bairnsdale Regional Health Margaret Griffiths, who left home at 5.45am to attend the event in Melbourne, said it was useful to hear all the ideas put forward and that she felt it was important to address the clinical gap in the HSV procurement process. “I think there needs to be a patient focus when it comes to what a particular drug will bring to the process and to the state as a saving.”

The second pharmaceutical procurement strategy workshop will be held at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre on Thursday 11 July 2024, where HSV will present the list of initiatives together with information and data collated by HSV in relation to each one. Participants will be asked to provide additional feedback to create the final prioritised list that will shape the procurement strategy over the next five years.

Following the second workshop, the HSV team will investigate how best to operationalise the proposed initiatives and share the new strategy with the broader sector.

“I want to thank everyone who made the effort to come along and provide input into the workshop,” Elma says. Many people travelled a good distance to attend. It was a very valuable process to get everyone in a room together.”