Collaborative procurement

Healthcare Purchasing Consortium is a collaborative procurement hub and the main NHS provider of purchasing, supply chain and commercial services across the West Midlands and north central London. In October 2006, HPC merged with the Lifesource collaborative procurement hub and the West Midlands Procurement Alliance...

Commissioning myopia

When you mention commissioners do you think of the long lost empire or people who open doors in a posh building? You should be thinking of neither, says Doug Forbes

With over £110bn of services commissioned by all parts of government, maybe its time to take a wider view of the importance of this function...

Making value sustainable

The healthcare supply chain has received a new prescription. Procurement is strategic, commercial approaches are key and sustainability is everything. As they move into a new era, NHE spoke to Mark Patterson, NHS Supply Chain’s development director, about delivering the right services for today’s NHS...

What does the future hold for procurement?

In the September/October 09 issue of NHE, Professor Paul Goddard said: “The medically-knowledgeable individual... will find the less knowledgeable managers both a threat and a problem.” This goes not only for general managers but for other support professionals as well, says Renata Towlson

Procurement officers constantly battle with a lack of in-depth engagement and co-operation from consultants where the more complex medical or surgical equipment and systems are concerned....

The growing cost of obesity

Recent studies have shown that obesity really is a growing problem for the NHS. It has been shown to have catastrophic effects on people’s health and suggests that it is likely to have the same effect on the health service’s bank balance, reports Richard Mackillican

The latest statistics show that around a quarter of Britain’s population is now obese and this is only set to rise in the future, despite various government programmes to encourage people to eat more healthily...

Towards ethical procurement

There is mounting evidence that a number of medical products manufactured around the world are made under unethical conditions. It’s time for justice and moral leadership in NHS procurement policy, says Dr Mahmood Bhutta

Over the last few years, research by the Medical Fair and Ethical Trade Group, amongst others, has uncovered evidence that a number of commodities we are buying for use in healthcare are produced under conditions that are unethical and illegal under international labour law...

NHS hearing aid contract relaunched: more choice, technology and savings

NHS Supply Chain’s renewed hearing aid and accessories contract that launches on the 1 st of August offers ‘innovative technology, and more choice’, according to the organisation.

With collaboration from the Department of Health and patient groups, it is the most thorough tender exercise that NHS Supply Chain has undertaken on hearing aids and accessories...