Using ActivHeal dressings in a London teaching hospital: a cost analysis.

Lower-cost 'generic' wound dressings are now available in the dressing categories of foams, films, alginates, gels and hydrocolloids. This offers the possibility of achieving significant financial savings while retaining good clinical standards of wound care. To test the potential for cost saving in a typical London teaching hospital, the ActivHeal range of dressings was substituted for normal 'branded' dressings over a 3-month period, during which dressing cost and clinical effectiveness were assessed. The result was an equivalent yearly cost saving of pound55 221 (54%), with retention of performance standards across the dressing range. Two years after the trial, wards in University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust continue to benefit from significant annual cost savings on dressings by using the ActivHeal range of products, while maintaining a high standard of clinical care.