Procurement & Supplies
Who we are and what we do
The Trust has a dedicated Procurement & Supplies Department headed by the Head of Procurement & Supplies, who has overall and on-site responsibiity for the provision of goods, equipment, materials and services.
Wherever possible (and where we can achieve value for money) we purchase from contracts arranged locally (or on our behalf) by NHS Supply Chain. Further information on these organisations is contained within this site. When required, we undertake local tendering and quotation exercises following Trust Standing Financial Instructions and local/European policies and procedures.
New products can only be introduced into the Trust providing that some (or all) the following processes have been undertaken:
- Business plan
- Quotation/Tender exercise (if an existing contract is not available)
- Full product evaluation
- Full financial evaluation
In the majority of instances, we would need to refer products through a variety of Trust lead Committees, for example;
- Medical Devices Committee
- Safety Committee
- Ward Consumables Commodity Advisory Committee
- Theatre Consumables Group
Locally we have retained an operational Trust Procurement & Supplies Team, structured as follows:
a) Ward Materials Management - Finance Dept, Baguley House
Team of four w.t.e.'s responsible for electronic stock management and replenishment service at ward/departmental level including regular review, putaway and compliance with Trust standard products. Over 125,000 lines ordered annually through this route, supplied exclusively by NHS Supply Chain. Trust annual expenditure through NHS Supply Chain in 2007/8 was £5.03m. Responsible for ensuring compliance with Trust Standing Financial Instructions.
b) Theatre Materials Management - F Block and Acute
Team of four w.t.e.'s with the same responsibilities as detailed above, plus non stock ordering (i.e. goods classed as non stock are those not available through NHS Supply Chain. Non stock expenditure is in the region of £2.3m per annum.
c) Non Stock Ordering - International House
Team of 5.58 w.t.e.'s responsible for ensuring that all goods and services ordered comply with Trust Standing Financial Instructions, paying particular regard to contract compliance, quotation/tender limits and authority levels. responsible for maintaining the Trust authorised signatory list, staff training on on-line systems, e-procurement. Annually we use approximately 1000 suppliers.
d) Receipt and Distribution
Team of 3 w.t.e.'s responsible for the safe receipt and onward transmission of all goods received into the Truts, correlation of delivery notes with official order, daily supervision of portering staff.
e) Procurement Team – International House
Team of 3 w.t.e.’s responsible for local tendering and contracting that is not already covered by contracts awarded by NHS Supply Chain, North west Collaborative Commercial Agency.
What we spend and how we spend it
The summary below is taken from the Annual Accounts, and shows spend against category areas that can be influenced by Supplies:
- Supplies and Services - Clinical £30.6m per annum
- Supplies and Services - General £24.3m per annum
- Agency/contract staff - £3.8m
- Drugs - £14.8m
The Trust entered into a PFI partnership in February 2000 with Sodexo and it should be noted that our PFI partner is responsible for spend against the following commodity areas, including consumables;
- Linen services/laundry
- Domestic services
- Catering
- Estates
- Telecommunications
To understand how we spend our money, we need to look at our relationships with other NHS bodies and the work they undertake for the wider NHS. In addition, we have to comply with local legislation and European legislation.
Organisational Relationships
In April 2005, the Trust joined the NHS Shared Business Services Commercial Procurement Solutions (NHS SBS CPS) which was created to undertake strategic and tactical contracting on behalf of its member Trusts, with the objective of maximising the NHS's enormous purchasing power to obtain better quality and better value for money.
The Procurement & Supplies team interacts with the NHS SBS CP strategic purchasing team (based in Salford) to determine projects for the annual workplan, provide product usage figures and other relevant supplier information and to monitor contract complaince and contract savings.
In addition to our membership of the NHS SBS CP, we are supported in providing goods and services to the Trust by the following organisations:
NHS Supply Chain (NHSSC)
Government Procurement Service
Both of the organisations listed above has a specific remit for NHS purchasing and they arrange contracts and framework agreements for our use and in the case of Buying Solutions, for the Public Sector as a whole.
There are links below to each organisation, including direct links to their workplans and current contract opportunities.
Local Workplanning
The local workplan can be requested from procurement@uhsm.nhs.uk, and will be supplemented by work undertaken by NHS Supply Chain and Government Procurement Service - please see links below.
Local contracting opportunities can be viewed here.
NHS Supply Chain provides customer-focused healthcare products and supply chain services to the UK's National Health Service (NHS), enabling trusts, hospitals and other healthcare organisations to focus on patient care.
Over the next 10 years the aim of NHSCC is to provide over £1 billion savings to the NHS so that resources are released for NHS trusts and healthcare organisations to focus on quality frontline patient care, manage costs and achieve sustainable value.
NHSSC manages the procurement and delivery of over 600,000 'in-scope' products for more than 600 healthcare organisations.
Click here for NHSSC procurement opportunities
Click here for the Supplier portal for further information
For details of contracts awarded, contact NHS Supply Chain directly.
NHS Shared Business Services Commercial Procurement Solutions (NHS SBS CPS)
The NHS SBS CPS represents 53 NHS organisations in the North West of England. Its growing team of procurement and supply chain specialists throughout the region work together to provide a world-class service that has delivered over £60m in savings since its inception in 2005.
Backed by the Department of Health, tyhe NHS SBS CPS aims to support the delivery of first class care to patients by ensuring staff have access to the best possible products and services.
Click here for procurement opportunities.
Procurement Workplan 2011/12 not yet available, contact NHS SBS CPS directly.
For details of contracts awarded contact NHS SBS CPS directly.
The Government Procurement Service is an Executive Agency of the Cabinet Office. They provide a professional procurement service to the public sector to enable organisations to deliver improved value for money in their commercial activities and provide professional support when it matters, advising on technical issues, energy saving and environmental improvements.
GPS is the national procurement partner for all UK public services.
The Supplier zone of GPS website contains sections on tendering and sub-contracting opportunities and can be accessed here.
The primary role of GPS is to maximise the value for money obtained by Government departments and other public bodies through the procurement and supply of goods and services.
Procurement and Tendering Procedures
Standardised, formal documentation is used to invite suppliers to submit pricing.
For purchases from £10,000 to £30,000 inc VAT, if a local or national contract is not available, a minimum of three quotations are required.
For purchases from £30,000 to £80,000 inc VAT, if a local or national contract is not available, a minimum of three tenders are requires.
For purchases over £80,000, Trust staff are advised to contact the Procurement & Supplies Department at the first available opportunity. All purchases over £101,323 (exc VAT) are subject to EU tendering regulations.
Our Tender Policy can be accessed here. It outlines the local procedures that must be followed when the whole life cost of a procurement need or project is in excess of £30k.
In addition to compliance with Trust Standing Financial Instructions, the Supplies department also works to the following guidelines/policies
General Guidance
The Government Procurement Service has produced guidance for suppliers on supplying the public sector. For further information, visit the GPS Supplier portal, or contact the Head of Procurement & Supplies at procurement@uhsm.nhs.uk.