A Caerphilly healthcare product manufacturer has seen a period of unprecedented growth, after securing 26 major NHS contracts over the last 12 months.
Direct Healthcare Services, which manufactures pressure care products including specialist mattresses and cushions, has won a number of significant orders to supply NHS Trusts and Local Authorities across the UK. Its latest contract wins, with County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust and Hertfordshire County Council, are worth over £275,000 and £200,000 respectively.
The company uses innovation in both product design and customer collaboration to help reduce pressure care wounds in the NHS, an area that costs the NHS up to £2.6bn per year – approximately 4% of annual expenditure and nearly half the amount spent on cancer services.
The company was awarded the fastest growing Welsh firm in health and educational services, and the second fastest growing company in Wales overall, at the recent Fast Growth 50 awards. Established in 2009 and located at a 21,000 sq ft manufacturing base on the Western Industrial Estate, Direct Healthcare Services grew by 445% from 2010 to 2012 and is on course to turnover £7 million this year.
Staff numbers have also increased in the last year, from 30 to 42 people, and there are plans to further boost the workforce by 15 people over the next 18 months, as the firm aims for continued growth.
Direct Healthcare Services has also recently committed to spending £98,000 on staff training and development, to ensure that its team is well prepared for further increasing the company’s growing market share.
The healthcare supplier’s growth has been spearheaded by Managing Director, Graham Ewart, who was appointed in May 2012. Ewart, who joined from global medical device firm, Stryker, introduced an innovative partnership design model as part of his strategy for growth.
Under this arrangement, Direct Healthcare Services actively engages with its customers to tailor its products to suit their needs. In some cases, this results in a shared patent, which represents new revenue streams for NHS trusts.
Targeting a wide range of healthcare clients, from acute and community NHS Trusts to nursing homes and wheelchair service organisations, the firm has successfully provided an innovative solution to meet the needs of the modern British healthcare market.
Graham Ewart, Managing Director of Direct Healthcare Services, said:
“We are delighted to announce our new supplier partnerships with the County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust and Hertfordshire County Council. In the last 12 months we have achieved unprecedented success, winning significant contracts with several key public sector organisations.
“Previously the NHS had two options when purchasing mattresses for patients; standard static foam mattresses, which can leave patients at risk of developing pressure ulcers, or spending substantial sums on electronic dynamic mattresses. Our Intelligent Pressure Care Management range offers the best of both worlds, improving patient mobility and preventing pressure injuries while reducing the economic burden on the NHS. This, combined with our partnership approach to design, is making us an increasingly attractive supplier to the NHS.
“Our location is Wales is absolutely fundamental to the growth of the business as it has given us access to a workforce that is highly skilled in manufacturing to the highest quality. Over the past year, we have become acknowledged as the leading foam mattress supplier in the UK pressure area care market. Our challenge is to continue growing our market share across the UK and, over the next five years, to increase our overseas exports to Asia and Europe.”