Product Availability

Our online catalogue is updated daily, enabling you to access the latest product information when browsing or placing your order, including details on:

• Suspended products – Including why the product has been temporarily suspended, direct and indirect alternatives and the date we anticipate to have it available from again.
• Latest products – Keeps you informed of the latest products added to the catalogue. You can search by NCP codes or the date they were added.
• Product amendments – Enables you to find out about changes to a product e.g. price, pack size, supply route or available while stocks last (AWSL). Search against a specific NPC code or enter a date range to find the information you need.
• Our online catalogue and ordering system now provides logged in users with visibility of the stock status of those products held in our warehouse network.

You also have the option to download the information into Microsoft Excel.

Direct alternatives
These are automatically substituted products that are ‘like for like’. However should you feel that the alternative offered to you is unsuitable, please contact your Customer Services Advisor at the earliest opportunity.

Note that direct alternatives are referred to as ‘nationally agreed alternative products’ within our online catalogue.

Indirect alternatives
This is the closest product from our range that we can offer in terms of suitability but there may be differences. Please note that an indirect alternative will not be automatically substituted. It needs to be chosen by you, following appropriate clinical consultation.

Note that indirect alternatives are listed as ‘nationally agreed similar products’ within our online catalogue.

Due to issues beyond our control, some products may become short of supply resulting in rationing across the customer base to enable equal distribution across the entire NHS. In the short term, this will result in critical products still being delivered to customers, albeit in reduced quantities.

We aim to maintain a minimum 98% service level on stocked products but due to issues beyond our control, we may occasionally run out of stock on some items. In the event of a particular item being unavailable, you may be offered either a direct or indirect product alternative.

Whether a stock product (not Blue Diamond, eDirect, local or Framework products) is currently available is clearly indicated. An ‘Out of Stock’ message in red or an ‘In Stock’ message in green is clearly shown.

Please note, stock status is calculated hourly, so actual stock levels may differ from those displayed at the time or ordering.

You can still order a product marked as ‘Out of Stock’, but delivery may be delayed. This gives you the opportunity to order an alternative instead.

Email Me

If you prefer, instead of ordering now, you can click on a button ‘Email Me’. An email message will be sent to you when the product becomes available. The email address used is the one recorded in your account when the request is made – if you change your email address, you will not be notified unless you click ‘Email Me’ again.

It is our aim to fulfil your order requirements at all times. However, there may be occasions when the supply chain may not run as smoothly as we may like. If for any reason we are unable to fully satisfy your requisition, we will advise you of this the day before your delivery is due via an unsatisfied lines report.

If for any reason we are unable to fully satisfy your order, we will advise you of this the working day before your delivery is due via an unsatisfied lines report.

The report can be accessed through our online ordering system. When you log into online ordering in the ‘system alerts and messages’ section you will see if there are any unsatisfied lines for your trust. By clicking the link you can see the details and any alternative products available.

Alternatively you can receive the unsatisfied lines report by email, for the whole trust or it can be requisition point specific. To receive these emails please contact your Customer Services team.

The Unsatisfied lines report is also available from the My Orders menu.

1. Select the relevant Warehouse and trust, if not already selected for you.
2. In Select date, select the date that you are interested in from the list available.
3. Click Search.

Any unsatisfied lines are listed:

• To see the order containing them, click the order number.
• To see details of the product, click the NPC.
• To export the unsatisfied lines to a spreadsheet, click Export and then choose whether to save or open the file.

To automatically generate another order for the unsatisfied items:

1. In the Actioned by column, select the items you still require .
2. Click Process.

An order is automatically generated, and the Unsatisfied lines report is updated to show who
has processed this and when it was done.

It is only possible to generate an order for the unsatisfied lines on the day you are notified of
them. From then on, the option is disabled and a new order must be created.