How can NHS procurement be improved?
b'The NHS spends over \\xa330bn a year through procurement, on critical clinical services, medicines, equipment, IT, building maintenance, catering and cleaning. But does it spend this money well? During the pandemic questions were raised about value for money and transparency.\\n\\nWith NHS England recently creating a new central commercial function to coordinate the work of the more than 4,000 staff working on NHS procurement and supply chain, how can the NHS make the most of its collective buying power and ensure money isn\\u2019t wasted? What lessons can be learned from NHS procurement during the pandemic? How can the NHS create more resilient supply chains? What role can procurement play in tackling health inequalities and the NHS\\u2019s commitment to reach net zero by 2045? And how can the NHS take advantage of the changes proposed in the Procurement Bill?\\n\\nTo answer these questions, the Institute for Government convened an expert panel including:\\n\\nJacqui Rock, Chief Commercial Officer at NHS England \\nDavid Hare, Chief Executive of the Independent Healthcare Providers Network\\nPatrick Parkin, Partner at Burges Salmon\\nLuella Trickett, Director, Value and Access at the Association of British HealthTech Industries\\n\\nThe event was chaired by Nick Davies, Programme Director at the Institute for Government.'