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National Procurement is a branch of NHS Scotland that procures products for all Scottish Health Boards. Gill Bowler, Clinical Procurement Manager at NHS Lothian, explains how this works in practise.

蜜桃直播淚'm a registered nurse with experience in theatre and A&E. My procurement career began as an adviser for theatres and anaesthetics in Lothian Health Board, and now I procure products for the entire Board, which is the second largest in Scotland.

蜜桃直播淭he Board has over 26,000 staff, eight acute hospitals, 26 primary care hospitals and over 150 GP practices, dental practices and community health care centres. I work with clinicians from all specialities in both acute and primary care, and with non-clinicians, including estates, domestic services and finance.

蜜桃直播淧ut simply, my role is to advise clinicians on procurement and how they can get involved in the process. I advise procurement colleagues on what products they should be buying, and support staff to manage the transition between new products.

National Procurement

蜜桃直播淧rior to 2007, procurement was achieved on a local level and driven mostly by clinical preference. In 2007, the Scottish Government set up National Procurement (NP), a new branch of NHS Scotland that coordinates procurement for every Scottish Board.

蜜桃直播淣P was established as part of wider procurement reform across the Scottish Public Sector, to ensure best value is achieved. Since its inception, NHS Scotland has saved over 拢150 million.

"NHS Lothian engages with NP through the Commodity Advisory Panel (CAP), which allows us to share our professional expertise. CAP members assist with product evaluation by setting strict criteria which ensures products are fit for purpose. This criteria or 蜜桃直播榮core蜜桃直播� is combined with a similar rating for product cost, which gives an overall product 蜜桃直播榮core蜜桃直播�.

蜜桃直播淭here is a mandate on Scotland蜜桃直播檚 Health Boards to obtain products through NP contracts, so it's vital that our clinicians are involved in this process. All NHS Scotland Health Boards attend NP meetings and feedback on particular contracts.

蜜桃直播淣P consists of three work streams: contracting, logistics and e-procurement, which work together to source, standardise and rationalise the best products at the best price, with the ultimate aim of obtaining one price for all Health Boards across Scotland.

蜜桃直播淭he contracting team run the tender, contract and supplier management process; logistics store the items and manage delivery; and e-procurement maintain a catalogue, which means each product can be ordered centrally.

Clinical experience

蜜桃直播淚 have been involved in the process from the very beginning, and I established our current system to better involve clinician staff in the CAP process.

蜜桃直播淐linical experience is fundamental to the decision making process and our clinical staff regularly attend meetings with NP. The government mandate requires us to procure through NP where possible, so it is in our interest to use this as a forum in which clinicians share information and advise on legislation, guidelines and best practice.

蜜桃直播淎lthough my team sits within the Procurement Department of NHS Lothian, we work closely with clinical colleagues 蜜桃直播� a relationship that I have formalised in my role as Clinical Procurement Manager.

蜜桃直播淢uch of our work focuses on product safety. Sharps safety, for example, has improved across NHS Lothian since the introduction of new devices which comply with current legislation. We also work with health and safety teams to monitor needlestick incidents, and a recent project on tissue viability has reduced the length of time patients with complex wounds stay in hospital.

蜜桃直播淭he standardisation and rationalisation of products, at both Board and national level, frees up staff time which would otherwise have been spent learning new products. This is in line with the Government蜜桃直播檚 Releasing Time to Care programme, which is improving the patient experience across the whole of Scotland.

蜜桃直播淭his approach also ensures staff work within the remit of the Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP) - a unique initiative which is revolutionising the safety of health care.

Work with clinical users

蜜桃直播淢y advice to procurement specialists is to work with clinical users 蜜桃直播� build relationships and make yourself available at all times.

蜜桃直播淚 offer to meet clinical colleagues in their workspace at a time convenient to them, to advise on processes and establish good working relationships. We蜜桃直播檙e all working towards the same goal, to ensure products are fit for both staff and patients.

蜜桃直播淚 urge staff to talk to their procurement teams and tell them what you want. We support innovation at all times, although we accept that we cannot have standardisation on all products.

蜜桃直播淚 think there is a place for more Clinical Procurement Specialists in NHS Scotland. This would strengthen the important link between procurement teams, clinical staff and suppliers.蜜桃直播�