From: Ian blenkharn@ianblenkharn.com
Category: News & information
Date: 29 Jul 2008
Time: 14:20:25 +0200
Remote Name: 86.133.234.230
Nathan Moore, Head of Commissioning and Delivery at the Centre for Evidence-based Purchasing, has described how buyers are benefiting from impartial procurement advice.
Certainly, the resources available to the NHS makes cost-effective procurement far easier that ever before.
The Centre for Evidence-based Purchasing (CEP) which is part of the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (NHS PASA) aims to be the leading source of information supporting the uptake of medical technology solutions in health and social care.
That this is evidence-based is excellent, though much of the legislation that covers, inter alia, clinical waste disposal is predicated largely on ideology alone. Research-based evidence is scant, and some may even be withheld in order to promote, or at least to avoid embarrassing conflict with, an 'official' viewpoint.
Sustainable procurement is a major government initiative and CEP is playing a role here too – encouraging the NHS to consider increasingly important issues such as medical equipment energy usage, clinical waste generation and the release of emissions harmful to the environment. Working with Defra and OGC, CEP and NHS PASA are developing a protocol and assessment tool for the evaluation of energy usage so that this information can be incorporated into CEP reports.
The protocol and tool will also be available to local NHS procurement teams, regional teams such as procurement hubs and national teams like NHS Supply Chain.
There is much to do, and a new era of open communication will facilitate progress. This is a fantastic start.