Supply and Distribution
In March 2025, the programme will come to a close, but this website is accessible until June 2025.
Health and care professionals can access NWCSP resources by signing up to the Improving Wound Care: Building on the NWCSP FutureNHS workspace – the new home of the resources due to go live shortly.
The role of the Supply and Distribution workstream is to:
- Develop a set of principles of good practice for systems of supply and distribution of wound care products.
- Develop a classification system for wound care products for the NHS in England.
- As a stakeholder, contribute clinical expertise to the work of NHS partners such as NICE and NHS Supply Chain.
- Improve data and information about the use of wound care products to address unwarranted variation in clinical practice.
- Identify examples of good practice for widespread implementation.
- Consider sustainability and carbon emissions associated with wound care.
- Organisations we work with
- Engagement with industry
- NWCSP resources
- NWCSP webinars
- Supplier engagement event (08.05.24)
The NWCSP consults with the following organisations to support and inform the Supply and Distribution workstream outputs:
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) – Visit
NHS England – Visit
NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) – Visit
The NHSBSA reviews applications submitted by suppliers for inclusion of medical devices in Part IX of the Drug Tariff so that their products can be prescribed on FP10 in the community. Data is captured on prescribing via FP10 and is made publicly available in a number of reports including e-PACT data and the Prescribing Cost Analysis Reports.
NHS Supply Chain (NHS SC) – Visit
NHS SC manages the sourcing, delivery and direct supply of wound care products to the NHS and healthcare organisations in England and Wales.
National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) – Visit
- NICE Clinical Guidelines – evidence-based recommendations that set out the care and services suitable for most people with a specific condition or need. https://www.nice.org.uk/About/What-we-do/Our-Programmes/NICE-guidance/NICE-guidelines
- NICE Health Technology Evaluations – evidence-based recommendations on the use of new and existing medicines, products and treatments in the NHS. https://www.nice.org.uk/process/pmg36/chapter/introduction-to-health-technology-evaluation
- NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries (CKS) – summaries of current evidence for primary care professionals on the most common and significant presentations in primary care. https://cks.nice.org.uk/about/
GMDN Agency – Visit
The GMDN Agency is responsible for the Global Medical Device Nomenclature (GMDN) used to identify medical devices.
PresQIPP – Visit
- Help NHS commissioners to improve patient outcomes and manage medicine budgets effectively.
MHRA – Visit
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care and is responsible for ensuring that medicines and medical devices work and are safe. Products used for wound care are all registered as medical devices with the MHRA.
The NWCSP also consults with the following stakeholders to inform the NWCSP outputs.
British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA): The BHTA is a not-for-profit trade association in the healthcare and assistive technologies arena, working on behalf of members to improve industry standards and consumer protection.
Contact: info@bhta.com
Associate of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI): ABHI supports the HealthTech community to provide products and services that help people live healthier lives. As the voice of the industry, they show the value of health technology and overcome barriers to people benefitting from it now and in the future.
Contact: enquiries@abhi.org.uk
Surgical Dressing Manufacturers Association (SDMA): The SDMA are the voice of the UK surgical dressings industry. They exist to serve companies involved in the wound care, bandaging, orthopaedic, procedure pack, single-use instrument and associated market sectors in the British Isles.
Contact: sdma@dressings.org.uk
Review of Routes of Supply & Distribution of Wound Management Products in England – Download
NWCSP Supply and Distribution webinar (16.11.22) – Watch
This webinar provided an update on the development of a wound product classification system and a review of the routes of supply and distribution of wound management products in England.
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