Normal Office Hours
Telephone lines to our Customer Service Teams are open:
- Monday – Friday 8am to 5pm.
- This excludes Bank Holiday Mondays and other Public Holiday dates (for example Good Friday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day).
If an emergency occurs within our normal office hours please contact your usual Customer Services Advisor.
See our Useful Links ๐ section for contact details of our Customer Service Teams.
Next Public Holiday: Easter
We will be closed on Friday 2 April and on Monday 5 April 2021 for Easter. Orders placed around these dates may be affected by this closure, our delivery schedule provides details of how this may affect your orders.
Easter 2021 Ordering and Delivery Schedule | ||
Input Date | Delivery Date | Comments |
Tuesday 30 March | Thursday 1 April | Input orders as usual |
Wednesday 31 March | Tuesday 6 April* | *Or next scheduled delivery date thereafter |
Thursday 1 April | Wednesday 7 April** | **Or next scheduled delivery date thereafter |
Friday 2 April | Closed for ordering and delivery | |
Monday 5 April | Closed for ordering and delivery | |
Tuesday 6 April | Thursday 8 April | Input orders as usual |
To ensure your delivery is not delayed and arrives on your scheduled delivery day, there may be a need to input your order earlier than usual.
May Day Bank Holiday 2021
We will be closed on Monday 3 May 2021. Orders placed around this date may be affected by this closure, our delivery schedule provides details of how this may affect your orders.
May Day 2021 Ordering and Delivery Schedule | ||
Input Date | Delivery Date | Comments |
Wednesday 28 April | Friday 30 April | Input orders as usual |
Thursday 29 April | Tuesday 4 May* | *Or next scheduled delivery date thereafter |
Friday 30 April | Wednesday 5 May** | **Or next scheduled delivery date thereafter |
Monday 3 May | Closed for ordering and delivery | |
Tuesday 4 May | Thursday 6 May | Input orders as usual |
To ensure your delivery is not delayed and arrives on your scheduled delivery day, there may be a need to input your order earlier than usual.
Spring Bank Holiday 2021
We will be closed on Monday 31 May 2021. Orders placed around these dates may be affected by this closure, our delivery schedule provides details of how this may affect your orders.
Spring Bank Holiday 2021 Ordering and Delivery Schedule | ||
Input Date | Delivery Date | Comments |
Wednesday 26 May | Friday 28 May | Input orders as usual |
Thursday 27 May | Tuesday 1 June* | *Or next scheduled delivery date thereafter |
Friday 28 May | Wednesday 2 June** | **Or next scheduled delivery date thereafter |
Monday 31 May | Closed for ordering and delivery | |
Tuesday 1 June | Thursday 3 June | Input orders as usual |
To ensure your delivery is not delayed and arrives on your scheduled delivery day, there may be a need to input your order earlier than usual.
How You Can Help
Please support us in delivering a successful service to the NHS during bank holiday or closure periods by taking the following steps:
- Review your wards and departments who normally have deliveries on the dates impacted*. Consider if they will require a delivery on an alternative day and plan accordingly.
- Complete any stock build as early as possible – avoiding double orders in the week before a Bank Holiday Monday or in the last week before Christmas / Easter.
- For any Blue Diamond and eDirect products you require – consider product lead times to ensure you receive deliveries on time.
- Speak to your Customer Service Team to discuss your ordering plans; your advice will support our operations and transport teams in effectively planning resource to deliver your requirements on time.
- If NHS Supply Chain only deliver to your site on the dates impacted*, and there is a need to explore an alternative delivery day, please contact your Customer Service Team well in advance (ideally several weeks in advance), who will then seek to arrange an additional delivery during this period.
- To ensure continuation of Standing Orders during this period, review them at least a week prior to the closure by using your internal reports TR23 on our website. Please contact your Customer Service Team if you require any assistance in doing this.
*Examples of dates that might be impacted by our bank holiday or seasonal closure:
- A department that has Monday only deliveries – if the next delivery date coincides with a Bank Holiday Monday.
- A normal delivery weekday that coincides with Christmas Day, Boxing Day or New Year’s Day.
Out of Hours Telephone Numbers
For emergencies that occur outside of normal office hours, please contact your supplying distribution centre using the telephone numbers listed below.
North West England
Runcorn
- 01928 858 500
North East England
Normanton
- 01924 328 722
North Midlands
Alfreton
- 01623 587 173
East of England
Bury
- 01622 402 691
Please note: Before using any of the supplying distribution centre emergency numbers listed, please check which depot you are serviced from.
Central England
Rugby
- 01623 587 182
Southern England
Maidstone
- 01622 402 669
South West England
Bridgwater
- 01623 587 165
See our Downloads โผ section for more information on our out of hours, urgent and emergency deliveries.
Urgent and Emergency Deliveries
We recognise that occasionally situations occur when you may need clinical products in a hurry.
We aim to provide deliveries to your trust wherever possible, in relation to ‘urgent’ requests (where products are required outside the standard 48 hour delivery cycle) and ’emergency’ requests (those related to major incidents and/or medical emergencies).
Urgent Deliveries – Special Picks
In the event that you require a product urgently for a same or next day delivery, a special pick can be arranged. As special picks are more costly to process and deliver, these should be kept to a minimum.
In the event that a request is made without a valid reason i.e. it is not directly related to patient care, then an additional charge of ยฃ35 may be levied, in addition to any courier costs incurred.
See our Useful Links ๐ section to contact your Customer Service Team at the earliest opportunity with a reason for the request. They will inform you if your request can be accommodated and what charges, if any, will be applied.
Urgent Deliveries – Unscheduled Deliveries
These are 48 hour deliveries requested outside of your normal preferred delivery date. These are more costly to process and deliver and you may be charged for the delivery dependent upon the route.
See our Useful Links ๐ section to contact your Customer Service Team in the first instance, stating the reason for your request.
Urgent Deliveries – Major Incident, Clinical or Medical Emergency
NHS Supply Chain has a proven emergency service that is available to NHS trusts 365 days per year, 24 hours per day and is committed to delivery of a stocked product within 5 hours of any emergency request being received.
For products that are not stocked within our distribution centre network such as Blue Diamond or eDirect products, then we will endeavour to obtain stock for delivery within the shortest time possible.