Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Accepted
NHS England fails to actively use procurement data to challenge trusts' purchasing choices.
Recommendation
Trusts submit data to NHSE on how much they spend on medical equipment and consumables, and through which suppliers (including NHS Supply Chain). NHSE makes this procurement data available to all trusts, but relies on them to analyse the data and change their practices in response. Despite its central role, NHSE does not use this data itself to identify and generally challenge trusts as to why they do not purchase more using NHS Supply Chain.19
Government Response Summary
The government states the recommendation is already implemented, asserting that NHS England currently uses procurement data to challenge trusts regarding NHS Supply Chain usage and pricing, and provides a Spend Comparison Service to help trusts identify efficiency opportunities.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
3.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 3.2 NHSE already uses procurement data to challenge trusts who are not using NHS SC where NHS SC is the better price, and NHS England also challenge NHS SC to ensure they are delivering the best price for the NHS. The NHS Spend Comparison Service is a tool which takes spend data from Trusts in order to provide insights back to them on the cost of products that they purchase from NHS SC and directly from suppliers, highlighting opportunities where additional efficiencies may be possible.