Drugs and pharmaceutical electronic market information tool (eMIT)

This tool gives background information on the pharmaceuticals that hospitals might buy.

The data provided includes an estimate of NHS hospital-sector annual usage from English trusts for the product selected, the average price paid for that product over the last 4 months of the period, and a measure of how much that average changed.

Use procurement data to help realise £300m of savings

NHS improvement's recent procurement league table presents an assessment of the relative performance of procurement departments using data on acute trusts’ procurement process efficiency and price performance.

To help identify your opportunities to save, you can use

• the Model Hospital to interrogate your own procurement data to help you identify areas to improve
• the Purchase Price Index and Benchmarking (PPIB) tool and the nationally contracted products programme to negotiate lower prices

Integrated support and assurance process

These documents describe the integrated NHS England and NHS Improvement process for supporting commissioners and providers looking to procure and bid for complex contracts.

GIRFT: national general surgery report

The report found that reducing unwarranted variations between hospitals in areas such as effective procedures, length of stay, infection rates and procurement costs will improve patient outcomes and help the NHS save £160 million in efficiencies each year.

Nationally Contracted Products programme Customer webinar

NHS Improvement and NHS BSA delivered an NCP customer webinar on Friday 7 July to over 100 attendees. The aim of this webinar was to provide an update on the NCP programme.

NHS must do more to future-proof its MRI capacity, say imaging experts

The Royal College of Radiologists is urging hospitals to formulate clear plans to replace outdated equipment, after a survey revealed half of healthcare organisations do not have set renewal plans, and more than a third of older magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners are not scheduled for replacement.

Nationally Contracted Products (NCP) programme: blunt-filled drawing up devices

NHS Improvement have launched the Nationally Contracted Products Programme (NCP), which aggregates national demand in order to purchase products on behalf of the whole of the NHS to deliver savings.

The latest products in the programme are blunt-filled drawing up devices.

Ethical Procurement for Health Workbook

This Ethical Procurement for Health(EPH) Workbook aims to provide practical guidance for organisations in the health and social care sector to embed labour standards considerations into procurement and supplier management activities.

NHS procurement transparency: NHS standard contract

Updated guidance is available to all NHS trusts on the actions to take to increase openness and clarity about NHS procurement.

Financial Improvement Programme – Wave 2

Following the success of the first wave of the Financial Improvement Programme (FIP1), NHS Improvement is now launching FIP Wave 2 (FIP2).

If you would like to be involved, please respond by 12pm on Friday, 24 February.

Nationally contracted products programme

This programme led by NHS improvement and and delivered through NHS Supply Chain and NHS Business Services Authority aims to reduce product and price variation on everyday hospital products by purchasing them on behalf of all providers.

The website will be regularly updated as products come up for auction and when contracts have been awarded so that you can see which supplier has been awarded the contract and how much the NHS has saved.

NHS terms and conditions for procuring goods and services

Terms and conditions for the NHS when procuring goods and services from commercial organisations.

Guideline on Antidote Availability for Emergency Departments (January 2017)

Guideline on Antidote Availability for Emergency Departments (January 2017) from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and National Poisons Information Service.

UnitingCare missed the wood for the trees

The King’s Fund has published an analysis of the reasons behind the failure of the UnitingCare contract.

In 2013, commissioners and providers in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough went through a procurement process to award a new five-year, £725 million community services contract. The clinical commissioning group (CCG) received 60 expressions of interest and shortlisted 10 consortia, before selecting UnitingCare – a partnership of two foundation trusts – in October 2014. UnitingCare’s final offer was £27 million less than the lowest of the offers from other bidders.

Nobody, it seems, was quite sure what they were bidding for. Even the incumbent provider was unsure how much it cost to deliver the services. None of the bidders could be sure how quickly they might reduce costs or improve outcomes. The deal collapsed after only six months, an inevitability once the gulf between funding and costs became apparent...

Challenges and opportunities in improving access to medicines through efficient public procurement in the WHO European Region

This WHO report reviews how different public procurement practices can influence prices and ensure supply security for pharmaceuticals. It discusses the use of increased collaboration as a means to improve procurement outcomes.

Working with NHS England to provide support on complex contracts

In partnership with NHS England, we've designed a consistent, streamlined process for supporting and assuring the successful delivery of complex contracts.

Public Contracts Regulations 2015 for NHS commissioners

This summarises the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) requirements for NHS commissioners and those supporting them with their procurement of healthcare services.

Core set of NHS products to be used by all NHS providers

A set of standardised products selected to help NHS trusts and foundation trusts save money through better procurement.

To achieve the savings that are clearly possible through better procurement, NHS Improvement is working with the NHS to standardise specifications and product catalogues. This will help to reduce the range and ensure best value prices are secured using our collective purchasing power.

It has identified a set of products that account for around £100m of NHS trust and foundation trusts' annual expenditure and we anticipate savings of up to 25% on current costs depending on market circumstances.

NHS procurement standards

New guidance form the Department of Health on NHS procurement and Standards for assessing NHS procurement performance.

Procurement E-Learning Tool

The Competition and Markets Authority with the Crown Commercial Service has worked with Builtintelligence to produce a procurement e-learning tool. 

It is designed to help procurers and supply chain professionals understand why bid-rigging is harmful, learn how to spot tell-tale signs that suggest a bid may be illegal, deal with suspect bids and know where to go for further help.