Key Messages in prescribing for stoma care.

With £248 million spent on stoma appliances and accessories throughout England in 2013 (Health and Social Care Information Centre, 2014) value for money and control of this process is seen to be of high priority. This does not have to mean restricted access of appliances, rather that there is appropriate usage of the budget. This article looks at how the stoma care team collaborated with the local clinical commissioning group (CCG) in order for the local surgeries to gain a better understanding of the needs of their local stoma care population. It was hoped that this would facilitate further control in the ordering (by the patient or GP) of stoma care products. The Key Messages produced are to be used as a tool to aid cost-effective stoma care.