How to improve NHS procurement

With an annual expenditure of more than £20 billion, NHS procurement is a huge market luring suppliers of medical goods and services from allover the country. With a large number of potential NHS suppliers vying with each other to win tenders, choosing the right contractor can be quite difficult for NHS procurement professionals. Understanding the objective of NHS procurement While advancement in medical science and technology has significantly improved the quality of life, most of the latest treatments are available at exorbitant prices that may be beyond the reach of a large number of people. NHS procurement enables every person, regardless of his or her financial condition, to access the best treatment. The NHS procurement professionals and trust managers are entrusted with the job of making the best use of the scarce NHS procurement resource while securing quality goods and services for patients. Maintaining transparency in NHS procurement Since NHS procurement is funded by the government, the NHS procurement professionals and trusts are accountable to the government and taxpayers. It is therefore necessary to maintain transparency at every stage of the transaction. The NHS buyers should be prepared to account for their expenditure. They should clearly state their commissioning intentions including the services that they expect to procure through competitive tenders and those that will be supplied through single tender actions. Non-discrimination in NHS procurement While procuring goods and supplies, the NHS procurement professional should not give any advantage to a particular supplier or market sector. Instead of judging the nature of the organization, that is whether it is a public, private, charitable, social or voluntary organization, the NHS buyer should see whether the organization meets the NHS procurement standard. NHS procurement pricing To make the best use of the commissioned fund, NHS procurement professionals should focus on appropriate pricing policies. Although minimizing the price through competitive bidding is the primary objective of the NHS procurement process, under no circumstance the quality of the product or service should be compromised with reduction in price. In some cases, the NHS procurement professional may take into account individual choices of patients. When costs are known before procurement process, they may even consider fixing the price to facilitate competition on quality. Benefits of online NHS procurement The online NHS procurement marketplace has been designed to ease the task of procuring NHS supplies. Here, the buyer can quickly access a wide range of similar products, compare their prices and select the appropriate supplier.