Recommendation 18

NHS Supply Chain is also trying to improve its procurement route known as eDirect, which has had well-known problems since 2018. Some £1.5 billion of orders came through this channel in 2022–23.29 NHS Supply Chain acknowledged that from a trust’s perspective, while eDirect is working as it was designed, it is no longer what is needed to match the technology in some hospitals. NHS Supply Chain will therefore have to modernise at the same pace as NHS trusts are modernising their technology.30 NHS Supply Chain reported that, over the period from June 2022 to March 2023, on average more than one quarter (26.9%) of orders made through eDirect were delivered late, by an average of 22 days.31 NHS Supply Chain reported that there had been further 22 Q 126 23 Q 64; C&AG’s Report, paras 3.3–3.5 24 Q 64; C&AG’s Report, Figure 10 25 Q 64 26 Qq 119–126 27 Qq 105–106; C&AG’s Report, Figure 13 28 Q 106 29 C&AG’s Report, para 2.21 30 Q 100 31 C&AG’s Report, para 2.21 NHS Supply Chain and efficiencies in procurement 13 improvements since, with 8% of orders now eight days late. It is aware that there is still some way to go and that, further improvements will be slow to materialise. It told us that there will not be any further progress with eDirect in the next 12 months when it can put in place a new service provider and start to replace the old technology. From then, it estimates that improvements will take 18 months to appear.32 Reporting savings