What needs to be done to improve NHS procurement?

Public Service Review:Health and Social Care has asked NHS CPC Chief Operating Officer Helena Fuller her expert opinion on 'What needs to be done to improve NHS procurement?' for their forthcoming issue. Here's Helena's response:

"Within the NHS there is significant procurement expertise at local and regional level, expertise that understands the strategic objectives of their individual organisations, understands the constraints within their organisations and understands what is required to make an effective step change in procurement performance for their organisation and for the NHS as a whole. Why isn’t this expertise listened to and harnessed to secure this required improvement?

With the creation of Foundation Trusts, Boards are changing their view of procurement. The view of an administration function ensuring products and services are delivered on time is slowly being replaced with a recognition that with appropriate investment in quality staff, and systems to improve management information and to ensure compliance, procurement can support the trust in meeting its objectives at a strategic level.

Experience has taught us that supporting local procurement activity can deliver the foundation for even greater improvement at regional and national level. Without the encouragement and investment in local teams national initiatives will ultimately not deliver the optimum result. Trusts that operate on a commercial basis and act as if in competition, albeit within the NHS system, understand this and are investing in strategic procurement expertise locally.

This has to be a grass roots approach to ensure the base of the structure is sound. Recognition and investment on a local scale has to be the way forward. Thoughts of outsourcing transactional procurement are all well and good but trusts that don’t support strategic procurement locally will do so to their detriment."

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