NHS Supply Chain introduces brand new ‘food to go’ dynamic purchasing system

NHS Supply Chain: Food have recently launched their second Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) agreement, Food To Go. This DPS offers an extended range of retail categories that support retail offers and revenue growth. This follows on the Fresh Food DPS launched in August 2022.

Unlike traditional frameworks for the supply of goods and services, the DPS simplifies and overcomes barriers to entry that small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) face when tendering to supply NHS trusts. The new process is streamlined by eliminating the requirement for suppliers to provide financial evaluations when initially entering the DPS process and instead, occurs at a later stage.

Additional benefits of the DPS include:

• Greater flexibility and time-saving solutions, whilst ensuring compliance to Public Contract Regulations 2015.
• No deadline for applicant submissions, meaning suppliers can join at any point during the seven-year term, allowing ongoing supplier admissions.
• Increased supply chain resilience for customers through an increased supply base.
• Local supplier support and encouragement, allowing collaboration with regional groups of NHS trusts and increased competition.
• An ‘Open Market’ solution that gives buyers access to a range of pre-qualified suppliers.

The new DPS Food To Go agreement is divided into two categories:

• Patient feeding solutions.
• New café retail feeding concepts.

The new café retail feeding concepts offer a range of products, including but not limited to: Patient feeding sandwiches, salads and snack pots. Retail sandwiches, salads, sandwich fillings, cakes, street food, snack pots, pies, pastries, pizza, frozen desserts and ice cream, chilled and frozen drinks, grab & go and branded equipment linked to food brands included in DPS.

“The introduction of the new DPS agreement for Food to Go is complimented by the Food to Go framework that has been extended until February 2025, allowing trusts to direct award to supplier. The new DPS agreement will have an increased scope of retail products.”

Kathryn Browne, Category Lead for Directs, NHS Supply Chain: Food

NHS Supply Chain: Food encourages NHS catering teams to share their local suppliers for Food To Go to help drive better solutions for patients, staff and visitors, supporting the local economy.

For more information

The DPS for food to go is now open. See our Useful Links section where Suppliers can access NHS Supply Chain’s e-procurement portal, read more about NHS Supply Chain: Food on the category page or read more about how we are supporting the NHS to be Net Zero by 2045.

Notes to editors

All information in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.

See our useful links section for more information relating to this press release.

About NHS Supply Chain

NHS Supply Chain is part of the NHS family and manage the sourcing, delivery and supply of healthcare products, services and food for NHS trusts and healthcare organisations across England and Wales.

We manage more than 8 million orders per year across more than 129,000 order points and over 16,000 locations. We deliver over 35 million lines of picked goods to the NHS annually and our systems consolidate orders from over 1100 suppliers. This enables us to bring value to our NHS partners, helping them save time and money in removing duplication of overlapping contracts.

NHS Supply Chain aims to leverage the collective buying power of the NHS to drive savings and provide a standardised range of clinically assured, quality products at the best value.

NHS Supply Chain is committed to enabling the NHS to deliver safe and excellent patient care.

Supply Chain Coordination Ltd (SCCL) is the company at the heart of NHS Supply Chain. It provides oversight and operational management for NHS Supply Chain and its service providers. 

SCCL is the legal entity through which NHS Supply Chain undertakes its procurement services and transacts with customers and suppliers.

Whilst its shares are owned by NHS England, SCCL is a separate organisation.