NHS Supply Chain: Value based procurement project. Report and findings (February 2021)

Summary

In May 2019, NHS Supply Chain started a project designed to review the potential benefits and practical application of Value Based Procurement (VBP), as a complimentary approach to support existing Category Tower Service Provider (CTSP) procurement strategies.

Content

The project objectives include:

• Establishing a series of pilot projects that could be used to test the concept of VBP in practice.
• The production of a scalable model for the potential deployment of VBP.
• Provide awareness of the potential benefits and application of VBP across NHS Supply Chain.

This was achieved by adopting a three-stage approach:

1. Focusing on designing the project, applying a methodology for recruitment and implementing a range of pilots that would form the basis of the study.
2. Monitoring the pilots to review progress and scoping requirements for the transition to business as usual.
3. Utilising the experiences of the project to create guidance documents to support the adoption of VBP across NHS Supply Chain.

This report shares the approach, outcomes and observations from the pilot study phase of the project; offers an outline of the proposed approach for progressing the introduction of VBP for NHS Supply Chain, NHS buyers and suppliers; concluding with the potential implications for VBP post COVID-19 and how progress towards adoption of VBP can be maintained.