This tool was developed by GSK on
behalf of the Pharmaceutical
Industry Partnership Group (PIPG)
New Drug Capacity Calculator
An Excel-based tool for estimating the resource required to deliver
newly approved chemotherapy drugs.
Instruction Manual
ZINC Code :
Date of Preparation:
UK/ONC/0013/13d
11/06/2014
Sheet 1 - Cover
New Drug Capacity Calculator
This tool was developed by GSK on behalf of the Pharmaceutical Industry Partnership Group (PIPG)
ZINC Code: UK/ONC/0013/13c
Date of Preparation : 11/06/2014
Enter the model
Click on the “Enter the model” button or use the tab at the bottom of the worksheet to go to the
“Introduction” sheet.
Sheet 2 - Introduction
New Drug Capacity Calculator
The New Drug Capacity Calculator is an Excel-based tool for estimating the resource required to deliver newly
approved chemotherapy drugs. The pharmacy resource, nurse resource, chair time and activity tariff can be
estimated using this tool. The New Drug Capacity Calculator may assist with planning but it is not intended as a
resource scheduling tool.
NEXT
PREVIOUS
Click on the blue buttons below to navigate to the specific page of the New Drug Capacity Calculator.
Chemotherapy
Pathway
Treatment
Plan
Pharmacy
Capacity
Nurse
Capacity
Chair
Capacity
Activity
Tariffs
The NHS Standard specification template for adult systemic anti-cancer therapy services (April 2013) 1 specifies that the
pathway of care for any chemotherapy patient will need to ensure that the provider services have capacity (in terms of
oncology pharmacists and technical pharmacy staff and chairs) for checking prescriptions, reconstitution, and deliver
of chemotherapy drugs.
1
NHS Standard specification template for adult systemic anti-cancer therapy services (April 2013)
Costs and savings figures used in the model are for illustrative purposes only and the user's attention is drawn to the
fact that outputs from the model are subject to a) the assumptions described within the model and b) the data that the
user selects or decides to input into the model. GSK and NHS England accept no liability for losses arising, directly or
indirectly, from the use of the model or its output. GSK and NHS England make no representation or warranty as to the
suitability of the output of the model for any particular purpose.
This worksheet has been designed to introduce the user to the New Drug Capacity Calculator and
allows the user to navigate directly to specific sheets in the tool using the blue buttons.
Sheet 2 - Introduction
Functionality
New Drug Capacity Calculator
The New Drug Capacity Calculator is an Excel-based tool for estimating the resource required to deliver newly
approved chemotherapy drugs. The pharmacy resource, nurse resource, chair time and activity tariff can be
estimated using this tool. The New Drug Capacity Calculator may assist with planning but it is not intended as a
resource scheduling tool.
NEXT
PREVIOUS
Click on the blue buttons below to navigate to the specific page of the New Drug Capacity Calculator.
Chemotherapy
Pathway
Treatment
Plan
Pharmacy
Capacity
Nurse
Capacity
Chair
Capacity
Activity
Tariffs
Use arrows or
blue navigation
buttons to move
to next page.
The NHS Standard specification template for adult systemic anti-cancer therapy services (April 2013) 1 specifies that the
pathway of care for any chemotherapy patient will need to ensure that the provider services have capacity (in terms of
oncology pharmacists and technical pharmacy staff and chairs) for checking prescriptions, reconstitution, and deliver
of chemotherapy drugs.
1
NHS Standard specification template for adult systemic anti-cancer therapy services (April 2013)
Costs and savings figures used in the model are for illustrative purposes only and the user's attention is drawn to the
fact that outputs from the model are subject to a) the assumptions described within the model and b) the data that the
user selects or decides to input into the model. GSK and NHS England accept no liability for losses arising, directly or
indirectly, from the use of the model or its output. GSK and NHS England make no representation or warranty as to the
suitability of the output of the model for any particular purpose.
No data input is required on this sheet.
Please read the
disclaimer.
Sheet 3 – Chemotherapy Pathway
This sheet has been designed to introduce the user to the Chemotherapy Pathway, as described in the
NHS Standard specification template for adult systemic anti-cancer therapy services (April 2013).
Although the pathway may vary slightly according to local practice, the general flow of the patient
through this pathway should be similar in different parts of the country.
Sheet 3 – Chemotherapy Pathway
Functionality
Green boxes represent areas of the pathway
where capacity is being calculated.
Reference for document that
describes the pathway.
Describes the service area where capacity
calculation will be shown in the summary.
Click home button to
return to the Introduction
sheet.
Sheet 4 – Treatment Plan (1)
This sheet allows the user to put together a treatment plan for a cohort of patients. The delivery
time for delivering a new drug regimen to a cohort of patients is calculated on the basis of the input
data.
Sheet 4 – Treatment Plan (2)
Input the number of treatment cycles and the number of patients in this section of the treatment
plan worksheet.
Sheet 4 – Treatment Plan
Functionality
Follow the instructions in
Steps 1, 2 and 3.
The headers for tables 1a
and 1b contain information
in the comments boxes.
Use drop-down buttons to
input details of the
regimen. Input data
manually in the white
boxes that do not contain
drop-down lists.
Select “None” in “Drug
type” “Route” or “infusion
type” to blank out rows.
Throughout the tool some cells contain additional information in the
comments box (as denoted by a red triangle). Hover your mouse over
the red triangle in the corner of the cell to view the information.
Sum of infusion and
observation times for
specified number of
cycles for the whole
cohort of patients.
Sheet 5 – Pharmacy Capacity
This sheet allows the user to calculate the pharmacy capacity needed to deliver the newly approved
medications. It calculates the time needed for items that require aseptic preparation and those that are
pre-filled items. The output is expressed in Whole Time Equivalents (WTE) days for pharmacy staff and
the isolator time needed to deliver the regimen to a cohort of patients.
Sheet 5 – Pharmacy Capacity
Functionality
Use the drop-down
buttons to input
data on the variable
time activities.
Data on the number of
patients, cycles and
items is drawn from the
“Treatment plan” sheet.
Input data manually in the
white box for isolator
cleaning time multiplier.
Select hyperlink to
“Pharmacy References”
sheet to change or
review fixed times.
Select hyperlink to “local
Assumptions” page to whole time
equivalent (WTE) figure which is
set at a default figure of 5.4
hours.
Sheet 6 – Nurse Capacity
This sheet allows the user to calculate the nurse capacity needed to deliver the newly approved regimen. It
calculates the time needed for the nurses to deliver the specified regimen for a cohort of patients. The
output is expressed in WTE days of nurse staff resource needed for delivery of the regimen.
Sheet 6 – Nurse Capacity
Functionality
Use the drop-down
buttons to input data.
Nurse activities that
require chair time and
those that do not, need
to be entered in
different sections of the
table.
Input the total time
per patient for the
activities described in
steps 2, 3 and 5.
Cycle 1 data may be
entered separately
from that of
subsequent cycles.
Nurse resource that requires chair time and
total nurse resource is calculated.
Sheet 7 – Chair Capacity
This sheet shows the chair capacity needed to deliver the newly approved regimen for a cohort of
patients.
Sheet 7 – Chair Capacity
Functionality
Shows the different drug types that need to
be delivered for the new regimen in the
chemotherapy unit.
Data is drawn from the “Treatment
plan” and “Nurse Capacity” sheets.
The default setting is that each chair is
bookable for 7.5 hours/day
No data input is required on this sheet.
Sheet 8 – Pathway Results
This sheet collates the capacity information on resources needed to deliver the newly approved regimen.
It is designed to act as a snap-shot of the collated resources and may be used to provide an overview of
the overall capacity needed for delivery of a newly approved drug regimen. As it draws on the inputs
from previous sections, the previous worksheets have to be completed before the overview can be
generated.
Sheet 8 – Pathway Results
Functionality
Grey boxes indicate which capacities have been calculated.
The totals on the Pharmacy , Nurse and Chair Capacity worksheets are summarised here.
Sheet 9 –Results Table
The results are tabulated on this worksheet.
No inputs are required.
Sheet 10 – Local Assumptions
Functionality
To change the number of hours
that the chemotherapy unit is
open, input the number of hours
manually into the white box.
Time available for performing fixed time tasks.
For details of the actual times used in the fixed
time calculations, refer to the “Pharmacy
References” page.
To change the WTE, input the
number of hours/day manually
into the white box.
This sheet shows the information on the local assumptions that are used in the Capacity
Calculator tool. The assumptions currently used are derived from the data that has been
provided by the Newcastle Cancer Centre.
Sheet 11 – Pharmacy references
This sheet gives details of the aseptic preparation fixed times used in the pharmacy capacity
calculations. The times that are currently in the tool are derived from the data that has been provided
by the Newcastle Cancer Centre. If local data needs to be used, the data in the white boxes can be
changed manually.
Sheet 12 – Activity Tariffs
This sheet shows the likely tariff costs for delivery of the new chemotherapy regimen.
Sheet 12 – Activity Tariffs
Functionality
Select “Yes” in Step 1
if the new regimen is
comprised totally of
oral drugs.
Use hyperlink to
review national
tariff Information.
For parenteral drugs
select “Yes” once in
this section.
Use this section of
the worksheet for
activities that are
not on the national
tariff list. Manually
input the tariff in
the white box.
Sheet 13 Tariff Information
Details of the HRG codes and tariff costs used in the calculation of the
activity tariffs are given on this sheet. The reference is also provided.