SPARK®TSL ROI Calculations Explained

Discover how meal ordering and virtual ward rounds can revolutionise the NHS by saving valuable time, money, and reducing their environmental impact. Discover the logic behind our ROI calculator and find out how Trusts can maximise savings per hospital bed. Dive into the details below to uncover where SPARK® TSL sourced their numbers for this game-changing tool. 

Savings for Virtual Round wards

1. Monetary: A common challenge facing many consultants in the NHS is the need to travel between sites within a Trust to visit different patients. If consultants could connect with patients at the bedside through video calls, there would be no need to travel and therefore, eliminate the need for the Trust to reimburse staff for fuel costs. Currently, the NHS reimburses 45p per mile. 
   There are currently 45,800 consultants across 105,0005 beds in the NHS. This means there are 2.3 consultants per bed. The number of miles is calculated from the percentage of consultants that need to travel, the average distance they need to travel between sites and how often they need to make the trip every week. The form in our ROI calculator asks these questions to then calculate how much money the Trust will save on fuel reimbursements.
2. Environmental: Following the same principle that driving less saves money, it also means less emissions will be released. In the UK, the average CO2 emission per car works out to be 221g per mile. By knowing the number of miles that's usually travelled, we can calculate how much CO2 would be saved.
3. Time: Of course driving between sites also takes up valuable time. By removing travel time, staff will be able to see more patients and increase their efficiency. The average consultant costs £39 per hour. To calculate time saving we took the total distance travelled and divided it by 50. This is based of an average 50 miles per hour.
   
   

Savings for Bedside meal ordering

1. Monetary: The typical cost for 3 meals a day in hospital is £8.77. Digital meal ordering has the potential to reduce this cost by 39% in 50% of beds*. Meal ordering saves money in wasted food because patients can order exactly what they will eat. E.g. They order soup but ask that it doesn’t come with the bread roll. They can also order closer to the time meaning they are less likely to change their mind.
2. Environmental: Meal ordering is more precise and customisable meaning that patients are more likely to finish their meal. This can save 1.08kg worth of food waste per day in 50% of beds*.
3. Time: Staff won’t need to go round with a pen and paper and get people’s orders individually. This could save staff 5 minutes per patient.
   
   *Savings created through meal ordering should effect a minimum of 50% of the hospital beds. The other 50% is attributed to those who can’t order by themselves because of age or the effects of certain treatments.