A summary of the principal savings that could be achieved on an `All Wales' basis by making changes to current prescribing patterns is given in Table 1. Within this table, each suggested change is classified into one of four groups as follows.
| Group A | Changes which could be considered to be free of any clinical implications except perhaps to represent an improvement in the quality or performance of the dressings provided to the patient. |
| Group B | Changes which would result in improved patient care. |
| Group C | Changes which are possible on theoretical grounds but which may require confirmation in practice or some minor changes in local procedures. |
| Group D | Major changes in prescribing to discontinue the use of products which are of limited value or questionable efficacy. |
| Recommendation | Code | Saving |
| (£1000s) | ||
| Substitute Release for Melolin * | A | 32 |
| Substitute nonwoven swabs for woven swabs | A | 48 |
| Substitute K-Band for Kling and Crinx | A | 44 |
| Substitute Tricotex for NA Dressing | A | 13 |
| Substitute Tensopress for Blue and Red Line Webbing | A | 3 |
| Sub-total | 140 | |
| Rationalise the use of crepe and compression bandages | B | 26 |
| Substitute Skintact for Release and Melolin * (see below) | C | 62 |
| Substitute K-Band for other retention bandages | C | 92 |
| Substitute Scanpor for Micropore | C | 50 |
| Substitute cheapest brands for Tubigrip | C | 46 |
| Substitute Cutifilm for Tegaderm | C | 45 |
| Sub-total | 601 | |
| Discontinue use of topical antibiotic powders | D | 94 |
| Discontinue use of Varidase | D | 5 |
| Sub-total | 1301 | |
| Total maximum potential saving | 528 |
Note: It is obviously possible to only make one of the savings marked "*"