28 November 2013 - London, United Kingdom

Implementing world class procurement in the NHS

World-class procurement in the NHS is not a slogan; it is a necessity. Better procurement will save lives. High performing trusts will embrace it. The pressures on the NHS to secure much better value from the £20bn a year procurement spend by its hospital trusts are immense. A combination of joined-up procurement to maximise leverage and manage supply chains, with investment in much greater capability, should deliver some huge savings. Just a five percent improvement will save £1bn – equivalent to employing an extra 30,000 nurses. Alternatively, it could release resources to procure new, state-of-the-art equipment. The revised EU procurement directives will help the NHS to achieve these objectives and make it easier to take advantage of innovation.