NHS Supply Chain Provides Vital Procurement and Logistics Support to the Vaccination Programme
As we all celebrate the success to date of the ambitious NHS COVID-19 vaccination programme, with the Government having achieved its goal to offer a first dose of the vaccine to the top four priority groups, NHS Supply Chain reflects on how it is supporting NHS England and NHS Improvement with this national effort through its procurement teams and logistics service provider: Unipart Logistics.
The national vaccination programme has been the largest in the history of the NHS and it is a great honour for our teams to have played a part in the procurement and the delivery of some of the consumable products so vital for administering the vaccine.
Chris Holmes, Director of Supply Chain at NHS Supply Chain
The speed at which we have been able to respond to the programme’s requirements is testament to the logistics expertise and agility of our teams to work collaboratively whilst also maintaining our business as usual operation. I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved within NHS Supply Chain and our suppliers.
The national programme which launched in December saw the first consignments of vital equipment delivered, made up of consumables including everything from sharps bins to syringes, paper towels to pens and antibacterial wipes to administer the vaccine. NHS Supply Chain is procuring some of the equipment and clinical consumables required to administer the vaccine and delivering these items into hospital hubs (deliveries have also been made to support the setup of mass vaccination centres). Since then there have been more than 2,000 deliveries and there are many more to come.
Many thanks go to the dedicated procurement and logistics teams including those managing the project, customer services, warehouse operatives and lorry drivers.
“We’re proud to play a critical role in the UK vaccination programme, the scale of which is unprecedented in the history of the NHS Supply Chain, while being the most time-critical project we have ever been set. Our ability to adapt and the resilience of our colleagues has enabled us to provide this vital support, in addition to our day-to-day deliveries to the NHS.”
Claire Salmon, Director at NHS Supply Chain, Unipart Logistics