The evolving role of clinicians in procurement: a maternity and neonatal perspective

The landscape of procurement is undergoing a period of transformation following the introduction of the Procurement Act 2023 and NHS England’s Strategic Framework, including the proposed NHS Core List. In my role as a Clinical Fellow for Maternity and Neonates, I am working to champion the clinician’s voice early in this process.

Lessons learned from previous initiatives have shown that clinical insight is often sought too late to meaningfully influence the successful implementation of innovation.

If we are to secure the right products, at the right time, at the right price, clinicians must collaborate actively with expert teams in local trust procurement departments and with national partners such as NHS Supply Chain.

Maternity and neonatal units frequently operate as distinct ecosystems within hospitals.

With dedicated triage assessment areas, advice lines, and specialised stock systems, these services can unintentionally become siloed. This creates both a challenge and an opportunity: while autonomy supports tailored care, it can also lead to missed opportunities for cost efficiency and quality improvement.

Claudette Collins Achu writes about clinicians in procurement.

Engaging with local procurement teams and NHS Supply Chain forums is therefore critical. Procurement teams are continually seeking ways to optimise stock management – whether through standardising products across departments (such as aligning catheter brands with general wards to reduce costs and streamline deliveries) or responding to repeated product concerns.

However, clinician involvement in these decisions is variable. NHS Supply Chain, as the primary supplier of goods and services to NHS trusts, is uniquely positioned to centralise these efforts and deliver economies of scale while improving quality and reliability, supported by its internal clinical expertise to ensure decisions are safe, effective and grounded in frontline insight.

Alongside legislative changes, the NHS is increasingly adopting the principles of value-based healthcare. With rising population demand and constrained financial resources, there is ongoing pressure to deliver year-on-year savings. NHS Supply Chain is adopting Value Based Procurement (VBP) where decisions are informed by the total cost and outcomes of the entire patient pathway and applied where they deliver the greatest overall benefit rather than cost alone.

For example, investing in an innovative assisted vaginal birth device such as OdonAssist – despite a higher up front cost – may ultimately reduce overall expenditure.

Evidence suggests benefits including improved correction of fetal malposition, reduced maternal trauma, fewer failed instrumental deliveries leading to emergency caesarean sections, decreased theatre utilisation, shorter inpatient stays, and fewer long-term complications such as obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASI).

There may also be reduced neonatal trauma and feeding complications. When viewed holistically, these improvements contribute to lower total episode costs and enhanced patient experience demonstrating how procurement decisions can be driven by outcomes across the full care pathway.

Procurement within the NHS is, understandably, tightly regulated due to its reliance on public funds. The new legislation promotes transparency and equity, helping to reduce historical issues such as brand bias and inconsistent purchasing practices.

Maternity and neonatal units face immense pressure, with multiple competing safety priorities under intense public scrutiny. This can lead to change fatigue and hesitancy in driving local improvements. However, I have found that co-production – particularly with Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnerships (MNVPs) and multidisciplinary colleagues – offers a powerful way to align priorities and support personalised, high quality care.

For midwives and the wider maternity workforce, this approach represents a stronger and more influential voice in procurement decisions, ensuring that frontline insight directly shapes sourcing strategies and patient outcomes.

Midwives and the wider maternity workforce have a crucial role to play in shaping procurement decisions. By actively engaging in these processes, we can help build a stronger NHS – one that delivers better working conditions for staff, improved patient outcomes, and a more sustainable future for the services we are proud to provide.