PROCUREMENT


performance and ethical behaviour throughout a contract’s lifecycle, automatically creating periodic reports based on real-time data, as well as automating requests when additional information is needed. Implementing AI and MLL models able to streamline otherwise complex and time-consuming processes such as performance and contract fulfilment tracking can prove instrumental in ensuring compliance with the new bill, reducing the risk of human error at the same time. However, compliance will also strongly rely on interdepartmental collaboration, as commercial procurement teams need to be able to access data from a wide range of systems to reap the new bill’s benefits without disrupting their existing procurement and supply cycles. As this data may be stored in systems that are not integrated or compatible, overcoming technical challenges to make sure that all systems within the NHS ‘speak the same language’ is essential.


An ‘integrated end-to-end approach’ Similarly, the new framework requires an integrated end-to-end approach, and that all departments communicate and work as a team, instead of focusing on a single phase of the procurement cycle. Contract managers, finance teams, service commissioners, legal advisers, and reporting teams, will need to be consulted at each stage to ensure that evaluations meet the social value and technical criteria. Procurement solutions that enable a cohesive and centralised approach to the whole contract lifecycle have already been specifically developed for the public sector, ensuring end-to end- visibility into all elements of the new evaluation process, and that NHS bodies are compliant with the new reform.


References 1 The Procurement Act 2023: A short guide for suppliers. Updated 24 February 2025. https://tinyurl.com/4t6et3b8


2 NHS England. Provider Selection Regime frequently asked questions. https://tinyurl.com/3d24k633


3 New Hospital Programme: plan for implementation. Department of Health & Social Care. 20 January 2025. https://tinyurl. com/k25xk5tj


4 Ukraine was pharma’s clinical trial ‘darling.’ As war drags on, will the industry return? Biopharma Dive. 16 April 2024.


5 UK Business Death Rate. UK Money. Updated 23 January 2025. https://tinyurl.com/2r6urh9u


Compliance with the new Act will strongly rely on interdepartmental collaboration, ‘as commercial procurement teams need to be able to access data from a wide range of systems to reap the new bill’s benefits without disrupting their existing procurement and supply cycles’.


May 2025 Health Estate Journal 71


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