FINANCE & LEASING SERVICES
NHS Supply Chain launches its brand new Customer Board to work directly with trusts to make a real difference, argues its chair, Chris Sharratt.
N
HS Supply Chain’s Customer Board, set up with the support of Sir David
Nicholson and Peter Coates, saw its fi rst session take place at the beginning of Oc- tober. The emphasis behind the new board and the decision to have an ex NHS Chief Executive as chairman, is clear – who knows better the diffi culties that are being faced by NHS CEs and Directors of Finance than someone who has dedicated over 40 years to the NHS?
Chris Sharratt, Chair of the Customer Board, here answers questions about the new board and the benefi ts it can bring to NHS trusts:
What is NHS Supply Chain’s Customer Board and why have you chosen to get in- volved?
The Customer Board is a great way for the NHS to work directly with NHS Supply Chain. It will provide an open and con- structive forum which will help ensure that NHS Supply Chain’s strategy and services allow greater savings to be delivered to the NHS. I have chosen to become involved as I’m very much looking forward to engaging with trusts nationally to determine how we can make a notable difference to NHS pro- curement in order to generate savings.
By interacting with trusts through the Cus- tomer Board, we will be able to actively develop work streams which can help con- tribute to trusts’ cost improvement plans.
Can the Customer Board make a real dif- ference to how trusts currently view pro- curement?
Yes it can. NHS Supply Chain has always endeavoured to engage with its customers to identify and promote ways to deliver savings and enable effi ciencies, ultimately ensuring that NHS Supply Chain is deliver- ing in line with the needs of today’s NHS. Trust input allows NHS Supply Chain to
QUALITY AND SAVINGS
Developing smarter procurement tech- niques and improving market access to the widest range of quality products whilst still offering savings is ultimately what NHS Supply Chain’s specialist teams do on a daily basis. Supporting innovative technology and contributing towards greener and more sustainable routes to market are at the forefront of how we work.
Generating a forum through which dif- ferent specialists can not only come together but also share best practice can provide solutions for problems that the NHS faces as a whole. Utilising past successes and failures to anchor fi rm foundations through this current turbu- lent period and secure a working foun- dation of peers can only compliment and unite all of the work that is being undertaken by trusts individually across the United Kingdom.
We welcome contribution from trusts across England and are looking forward to developing our customer board into a productive and informative board to support our NHS. Email customer.
board@supplychain.nhs.uk
have a better understanding of the chal- lenges trusts are facing. Through the Customer Board, we hope to strengthen dialogue between NHS Supply Chain and trusts to develop real solutions.
Who is on the Customer Board and what are the areas it will focus on?
We issued invites across the NHS to be part of the board in September, and our fi rst board took place earlier this month. There will be around 15 members from the NHS at each board, with a mix of chief executives as well as fi nancial, clinical and procure- ment leads working alongside myself as chair and Nick Gerrard, CEO of NHS Sup- ply Chain. The board’s focus will be defi ned by its members, so the fi rst meeting was key. We’ve held a number of development group focus sessions over recent months to identify some of the key issues facing the NHS which have been really helpful. These will help formulate initial areas of work for the Customer Board.
Will the work of the Customer Board be communicated to the rest of the NHS?
The outputs from the Customer Board, its work streams and pilots will be made available across the NHS so everyone will be able to benefi t, as this is essentially why we have set up the board.
Chris Sharratt
FOR MORE INFORMATION E:
customer.board@
supplychain.nhs.uk.
national health executive Sep/Oct 11 | 49
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