Procurement
New medical technology innovation dynamic purchasing system
NHS Supply Chain has launched a new Medical Technology Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for Innovative Products, allowing public sector organisations access to buy goods and services compliantly from a range of innovative Medical Technology categories. Unlike traditional frameworks for the
supply of goods and services, the DPS simplifies and overcomes barriers to entry that small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) face when tendering to supply NHS Trusts. The new process is streamlined by eliminating the requirement for suppliers to provide financial evaluations when initially entering the DPS process and instead, occurs at a later stage. This will allow public sector organisations
to buy goods and services compliantly from a range of innovative medical technology
Supply Chain, but in order to achieve its objective – to harness the NHS’s spending power – NHS Supply Chain needs to persuade them to use it to purchase goods. There is a still lot of variation in the prices Trusts pay. For example, for each hip replacement stem part purchased by the NHS in 2022-23, individual Trusts paid up
categories through an ‘open market’ solution, enabling buyers the opportunity to purchase from a pool of pre-qualified suppliers. Additional benefits of the DPS include:
l A quicker, simpler approval process compared to standard framework agreements.
l DPS remains open to new suppliers throughout agreement period. l Improved accessibility for SMEs.
“The Innovation DPS for medical technology products will enable a compliant, efficient and assured process for innovative medical technology
products...The DPS will reduce the burden on suppliers and accelerate new innovation products into the NHS to offer new ways of delivering care, improved patient
to £490, with a median price of £333. Supply Chain’s price for the same product was £258 which was the lowest price for that product. In Supply Chain’s latest customer satisfaction
survey, 71.8% of customers asked noted that they use other supply routes because the products they wanted were not available through Supply
outcomes and cost savings,” commented Matthew Griffin, Head of Sourcing and Indirect, NHS Supply Chain. The Medical Technology DPS for Innovative
Products includes the following categories: l Orthopaedics, Trauma and Spine l Ophthalmology l Audiology l Cardiology l Endourology l Endoscopy l Neuromodulation l Oncology Ablation l Minimally Invasive Surgery l IVDR products/ tests (Pathology and Point of Care)
l Interventional Radiology, Perfusion and Radiology.
Chain. Supply Chain estimated that the amount of money that Trusts had spent when buying products through Supply Chain, or using its commercial terms, increased from £3.4 billion in 2018-19 to £4.5 billion in 2022-23 (in cash terms). Customers’ levels of overall satisfaction with NHS Supply Chain are below target and in long- term decline, according to the NAO. Supply Chain recognises that it needs to improve how Trusts view its performance if it is to incentivise Trusts to use it more. The NAO also says that NHS Supply Chain needs to improve the performance of eDirect, a procurement route accounting for around £1.5 billion of orders via Supply Chain in 2022-23. Orders via this route were delivered on average 22 days late between June 2022 and March 2023. The NAO acknowledged that NHS Supply Chain is working to address these challenges and is implementing a transformation programme. However, it added that there are weaknesses in how it is managing this transformation, with ‘an over-reliance on the Chief Executive Officer and slow recruitment of senior staff’. Supply Chain has set out what it considers it needs from NHSE for transformation to succeed and to achieve £1 billion savings. While NHSE is making progress towards most of these ‘asks’, it could do more, according to the NAO. The NAO recommends that NHSE should use its data on Trusts’ spending to understand and challenge why Trusts are not using NHS Supply Chain and incentivise and encourage greater use of NHS Supply Chain, and that NHS Supply Chain should improve its understanding of
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www.clinicalservicesjournal.com I April 2024
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