November 2022
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This conference discussed the future outlook for procurement in the NHS.
It took place with:
- the Procurement Bill in Parliament, with provisions for awarding and managing government contracts, and ambitions to deliver more efficiency and value for money following Brexit
- the placing of integrated care systems on a statutory footing, and changes to the procurement of healthcare services to support collaboration and integration in local health systems
- changes introduced by the NHS to the criteria for commissioning goods and services, in line with the Government’s Social Value Model
The conference was also a timely opportunity to consider the future direction of procurement and commissioning practices in healthcare, and how systemic changes to the NHS such as the move to integrated care systems may impact the landscape going forward.
We also expected discussion on any consequent regulatory, legislative or policy changes that may need to be considered by the new Government to support wider initiatives such as sustainability and adding social value through labour practices.
Areas for discussion included:
- the NHS Provider Selection Regime:
- tackling challenges around delivery of new procurement regulation and moving away from unnecessary competition
- collaboration on pathway design, and supporting efficiency and effective delivery
- issues for integrated care systems:
- navigating changes to local commissioning of health services, developing effective commissioning models in ICSs, and removing barriers to integration
- achieving value for money
- net-zero:
- assessing procurement as an enabler in achieving net-zero within the NHS and its supply chain, and opportunities for innovation and technology
- examining the way forward for classifying and recognising suppliers’ progress in sustainability
- supply chains:
- priorities for achieving resilience in critical equipment and supplies, and collaborating and monitoring to reflect levels of threat to health security
- creating supply chains closer to home and improving self-reliance
- social value - strategies for implementing procurement to provide more than value for money, including addressing health inequalities and modern slavery
- digital - opportunities for innovation and automation to improve efficiency within the supply chain
We are pleased to have been able to include keynote sessions with Edward Jones, Senior Policy Advisor, NHS Confederation ICS Network; Matthew Rees, Director, National Audit Office; and Vaishali Baid, Senior Consultant, Sustainable Procurement and Social Value, Action Sustainability, which supported the UK’s involvement in developing the international standard for sustainable procurement, ISO 20400.
The conference was an opportunity for stakeholders to consider the issues alongside policy officials who attended from the Crown Commercial Service; National Audit Office; OLS; and The Scottish Government - as well as parliamentary pass holders from The House of Commons.
