Logistics Manager
  • Logistics
    • A-E
      • 3rd Party Logistics
      • Air Cargo
      • Coronavirus
      • Express & e-delivery
      • Editor’s Blog
    • F-M
      • Health & Safety
      • International logistics
      • Latest issue
      • Logistics & Supply Chain
    • O-Z
      • Ocean Freight
      • Policy and legislation
      • Professional development
      • Rail freight
      • Road transport
      • Sustainability
      • Temperature-controlled
  • Intralogistics
    • Automation
    • Commercial Vehicles
    • Equipment
    • Infrastructure & Services
    • IT & Software
    • Materials handling
    • Packaging
    • Picking and sortation
    • Robotics and innovation
    • Storage
  • Supply Chain
    • A-L
      • Automotive
      • Construction
      • Energy
      • Fashion
      • Food & drink
      • Forecasting
      • Healthcare and Pharma
      • Hi-tech
    • M-Z
      • Manufacturing
      • Military
      • Omni-channel
      • Public Sector
      • Retail
      • SME
      • Sourcing and procurement
      • Supply Chain Analysis
      • Supply Chain Awards
      • Supply Chain Strategy
      • Supply Chain Technology
      • Supply Chain Visibility
      • Technology
  • Property
    • A-M
      • Big Sheds
      • Design & Build
      • East Midlands and East Anglia
      • M25 East
      • M25 West
      • Mid-box
    • M-Z
      • North East & Yorkshire
      • North West
      • Scotland
      • South-West & Wales
      • Speculative Development
      • Urban Warehouses
      • West Midlands
  • Corporate Insight
  • Digital Magazines
    • June 2023
    • May 2023
    • April 2023
    • March 2023
    • February 2023
    • January 2023
  • Events
    • Sustainable Supply Chain Conference
    • ESG Industrial & Logistics Conference
    • Supply Chain Excellence Awards
    • CiTTi Awards
    • IntraLogisteX
    • Robotics & Automation
  • Webinars
LinkedIn Twitter
  • Subscribe
  • Free weekly e-newsletter
  • Free daily e-newsletter
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
LinkedIn Twitter
Logistics Manager
SUBSCRIBE >
  • Logistics
      • 3rd Party Logistics
      • Air Cargo
      • Coronavirus
      • Express & e-delivery
      • Editor’s Blog
      • Health & Safety
      • International logistics
      • Latest issue
      • Logistics & Supply Chain
      • Ocean Freight
      • Policy and legislation
      • Professional development
      • Rail freight
      • Road transport
      • Sustainability
      • Temperature-controlled
  • Intralogistics
      • Automation
      • Commercial Vehicles
      • Equipment
      • Infrastructure & Services
      • IT & Software
      • Materials handling
      • Packaging
      • Picking and sortation
      • Robotics and innovation
      • Storage
  • Supply Chain
      • Automotive
      • Construction
      • Energy
      • Fashion
      • Food & drink
      • Forecasting
      • Healthcare and Pharma
      • Hi-tech
      • Manufacturing
      • Military
      • Omni-channel
      • Public Sector
      • Retail
      • SME
      • Sourcing and procurement
      • Supply Chain Analysis
      • Supply Chain Awards
      • Supply Chain Strategy
      • Supply Chain Technology
      • Supply Chain Visibility
      • Technology
  • Property
      • Big Sheds
      • Design & Build
      • East Midlands and East Anglia
      • M25 East
      • M25 West
      • Mid-box
      • North East & Yorkshire
      • North West
      • Scotland
      • South-West & Wales
      • Speculative Development
      • Urban Warehouses
      • West Midlands
  • Corporate Insight
  • Events
    • Events News
      • Conferences
      • Exhibitions
      • Top 50
    • Sustainable Supply Chain Conference
    • Industrial & Logistics Property Conference
    • Supply Chain Excellence Awards
    • CiTTi Awards
    • IntraLogisteX
    • Robotics & Automation
  • Digital Magazines
    1. September 2023
    2. August 2023
    3. July 2023
    4. June 2023
    5. May 2023
    6. April 2023
    Featured

    Logistics Manager Magazine September 2023

    4th September 2023By Michelle Mooney
    Recent
    4th September 2023

    Logistics Manager Magazine September 2023

    1st August 2023

    Logistics Manager Magazine August 2023

    3rd July 2023

    Logistics Manager Magazine July 2023

  • Webinars
LinkedIn Twitter
Logistics Manager
Article

NHS can save £500m on procurement, says NAO report

wpengineBy wpengine3rd February 20114 Mins Read
LinkedIn Twitter Email Facebook

A National Audit Office report has called on the Department of Health to work with NHS Supply Chain, which is operated by DHL, to develop services which will encourage more effective usage by trusts, such as running more electronic auctions in which suppliers bid to supply multiple trusts’ requirements.

The report, “The procurement of consumables by NHS acute and Foundation trusts”, says that a combination of inadequate information and fragmented purchasing means that NHS hospitals’ procurement of consumables is poor value for money.

“We estimate at least ten per cent or around £500 million of £4.6 billion total NHS consumables expenditure could be saved, and potentially much more for some products. For example, recent work by a procurement hub has indicated that savings of ten to 30 per cent may be possible in areas such as cardiac and orthopaedic products.”

Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said: “In the new NHS of constrained budgets, trust chief executives should consider procurement as a strategic priority. Given the scale of the potential savings which the NHS is currently failing to capture, we believe it is important to find effective ways to hold trusts directly to account to Parliament for their procurement practices.”

The report argues that NHS Supply Chain represents a means by which trusts’ aggregated requirements “can be articulated to the supplier market and this needs to be much more frequently used”.

The NAO points out that the Department of Health has no direct control over Foundation Trusts and so cannot require them to collaborate in ways which would secure better value in procurement.

However, it argues that the department should take forward and publish its procurement strategy for the NHS, which currently in draft, to include specific, time-bound commitments and performance measures under the three general themes (product bar-coding, use of Buying Solutions and work with NHS Supply Chain) of its strategy.

“There is a need for much greater transparency on prices being paid to suppliers by individual trusts. Price comparisons within and across trusts are difficult because of the lack of a standard coding system for products purchased. As proposed in its strategy, the department should require the NHS to adopt standard product bar-coding, to improve procurement data and enable price comparisons.”

The report also calls for more collaboration among procurement hubs to establish common measurements of their performance, which would provide clear measures of the results they are delivering for members and improve trusts’ ability to choose the Hub or Hubs with which they would like to work.

Surprisingly enough, the report says that few trusts know what they are spending on specific supplies and whether they are securing a good price.

“Trust chief executives need to consider procurement as a strategic priority, in the new NHS environment of limited budgets. Each trust should review its current consumables purchasing strategy and prices paid, identifying in particular any weaknesses in information, and the scope for collaboration and volume commitment deals. It should consider how key stakeholders such as clinicians can be involved more effectively in the procurement strategy.

“Trusts’ in-house procurement capabilities vary widely and more collaboration f is likely to reduce the need for in-house specialists. Each trust should review its procurement capability and consider options for more effective operation, including whether merging the procurement function with those of other trusts, or outsourcing it, would be appropriate.”

The NAO sasys that each trust’s procurement strategy should include:

* an analysis of its current purchasing practices, including its use of direct purchasing, NHS Supply Chain and collaborative procurement hubs

* an assessment of the trust’s current use of e-commerce systems and the scope that e-commerce could offer for improved information on procurement, to support product standardisation and compliance with agreed contracts

* proposals for product standardisation in key categories, with the intention of reducing the range of products purchased and suppliers used

* proposals to improve control over purchasing and ensure that purchases are made using agreed contracts, rather than as ‘spot’ transactions

* an assessment of stock control and its effect on procurement costs, for example the number of small, short-notice orders being placed and whether these tend to be at higher prices.

NHS Supply Chain manages the procurement and delivery of over 620,000 products for more than 1,000 trusts and healthcare organisations. It stated aim is to provide more than £1 billion of savings to the NHS by 2016 so that resources are released for customer to focus on quality frontline patient care, managing costs and achieving sustainable value.

Share your thoughts on this story at our Supply Chain Standard LinkedIn group.

[asset_ref id=”1011″]

 

Share. LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Email
wpengine
  • Website

This is the "wpengine" admin user that our staff uses to gain access to your admin area to provide support and troubleshooting. It can only be accessed by a button in our secure log that auto generates a password and dumps that password after the staff member has logged in. We have taken extreme measures to ensure that our own user is not going to be misused to harm any of our clients sites.

Related Stories

Consortium makes first paperless cross-border shipment

25th September 2023

APC partners with Parcelly to offer more flexible delivery options

25th September 2023

H&M introduces fee for returns

22nd September 2023
Latest News Stories
25th September 2023

Consortium makes first paperless cross-border shipment

25th September 2023

APC partners with Parcelly to offer more flexible delivery options

22nd September 2023

Leftfield acquires two new warehouses in Bradford

Free weekly e-newsletters

Discover what’s causing a stir in the world of logistics and supply chains


Key Content
  • Digital Magazines
  • Logistics
  • Intralogistics
  • Supply Chain
  • Property
  • Corporate Insight
  • Events News
  • Opinion
Akabo Media
  • About Us
  • Advertising
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Free Daily E-Newsletter
  • Free Weekly Top Stories E-Newsletters
  • Free Weekly Supply Chain E-Newsletter
  • Free Weekly Property E-Newsletter
  • Sign up to be notified when we publish a new digital edition
Our Events
  • Sustainable Supply Chain Conference
  • ESG Industrial & Logistics Conference
  • Supply Chain Excellence Awards
  • CiTTi Awards
  • Robotics and Automation Exhibition
  • IntraLogisteX
© 2023 Akabo Media Ltd Registered No 07766641 England | All rights reserved.
Registered Office: Akabo Media, GG.007, Metal Box Factory, 30 Great Guildford St, SE1 0HS
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits.
By clicking “ACCEPT ALL”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
Cookie settingsRejectACCEPT ALL
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
CookieDurationDescription
__cf_bm30 minutesCloudflare set the cookie to support Cloudflare Bot Management.
_zm_chtaid2 hoursZoom sets this cookie to facilitate video conferences via zoom from the website.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
CookieDurationDescription
_ga1 year 1 month 4 daysGoogle Analytics sets this cookie to calculate visitor, session and campaign data and track site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognise unique visitors.
_ga_*1 year 1 month 4 daysGoogle Analytics sets this cookie to store and count page views.
_gat_gtag_UA_*1 minuteGoogle Analytics sets this cookie to store a unique user ID.
_gid1 dayGoogle Analytics sets this cookie to store information on how visitors use a website while also creating an analytics report of the website's performance. Some of the collected data includes the number of visitors, their source, and the pages they visit anonymously.
CONSENT2 yearsYouTube sets this cookie via embedded YouTube videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
CookieDurationDescription
OAID1 yearCookie set to record whether the user has opted out of the collection of information by the AdsWizz Service Cookies.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysYouTube sets this cookie to measure bandwidth, determining whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSCsessionYoutube sets this cookie to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devicesneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt-remote-device-idneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt.innertube::nextIdneverYouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requestsneverYouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
CookieDurationDescription
TS018dd1basessionDescription is currently not available.
TS01f92dc5sessionDescription is currently not available.
SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by CookieYes Logo