Recommendation 19

NHS Supply Chain has in the past used multiple methods to calculate and report its savings depending on its audience, for example, to government, trusts and suppliers. Each method gives a different result, risking clarity over how much NHS Supply Chain has actually saved. The method for calculating savings reported to government re-counted its savings from previous years. Separately, to show the savings trusts made individually, NHS Supply Chain calculated in-year savings for each trust, using prices paid the previous year as the baseline. The NAO report noted the mistrust and frustration caused by the differences in how NHS Supply Chain and trusts calculate savings.33