Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
The NHS is expected to find ?20bn in efficiency savings by the end of 2014 and those working in the NHS have experienced first-hand the pressures of cost cutting and the rising demands to meet this target.
Each year the NHS spends ?18bn on procurement of medical supplies and this has a large impact on hospital budgets. Health professionals will be aware that the cost of essential supplies can spiral and that there is scope to eliminate waste and make significant savings through more efficient procurement.
The government has taken steps to achieve this in the new Department of Health procurement strategy published this summer. However, the measures they suggest do not go far enough in addressing the real problem of NHS procurement: lack of transparency. Fundamentally, despite the government's work to reform procurement, there is still a lack of information and sharing of knowledge on pricing among trusts and suppliers.
http://www.theguardian.com/healthca.../government-procurement-strategy-transparency
Each year the NHS spends ?18bn on procurement of medical supplies and this has a large impact on hospital budgets. Health professionals will be aware that the cost of essential supplies can spiral and that there is scope to eliminate waste and make significant savings through more efficient procurement.
The government has taken steps to achieve this in the new Department of Health procurement strategy published this summer. However, the measures they suggest do not go far enough in addressing the real problem of NHS procurement: lack of transparency. Fundamentally, despite the government's work to reform procurement, there is still a lack of information and sharing of knowledge on pricing among trusts and suppliers.
http://www.theguardian.com/healthca.../government-procurement-strategy-transparency