Maintenance, Repair and Calibration of Medical Equipment

Working with you to plan the maintenance cover that meets your needs.

We have renewed our Framework Agreement for Maintenance, Repair and Calibration of Medical Equipment. This nationally available agreement incorporates a variety of service providers covering a large range of medical equipment categories, from Patient Assessment and Monitoring, through to Radiotherapy and Imaging. Each year an annual spend of £200 million across 560 sites within the NHS customer base is managed via this Framework Agreement.

To ensure that we can effectively support you throughout the procurement process, we have created a guide to help us work better together. This guide contains information relating to:

• New Business Requests – a step by step guide to using the NHS Supply Chain Maintenance Framework Agreement for the first time.
• Purchase Orders – a step by step process to enable you to place orders easily.
• Point of Sale Maintenance – defines how orders can be placed for maintenance contracts when purchasing equipment via our route.
• Decommissioned or Cancelled Contracts – sets out the process required when replacing or taking equipment out of use.
• Renewals – summarises how we can support you with the renewal of existing contracts placed through the Framework Agreement.

Want to know more? Please click here.

What our customers say about us:

''I get a good service from NHS Supply Chain. I am able to communicate both via email and telephone and they get back to me quickly, as well as providing reasonable quotations when it comes to price'' - Hazel Forde, Laboratory Manager, The Anthony Nolan Trust.

''The maintenance team has been there to support me throughout the entire procurement process. Without their support and expert advice I doubt I would have achieved the tight implementation timescales to meet compliance. The team are extremely knowledgeable and professional and will go above and beyond to ensure the required outcome is delivered on time and within budget. I would definitely recommend the NHS Supply Chain Maintenance Team!'' - Kerry Palmer, Medical Devices Asset Manager, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust

''There is no doubt that NHS Supply Chain's involvement in the contract renewal process was a major factor in getting the contract renewed by the mutually agreed date. The team co-ordinated the process by hosting regular conference calls between all parties involved to ensure that the project plan was adhered to.'' - Roger Cass, Maintenance Contract & Remarketing Manager, University College London Hospitals.

The Product Matrix is a quick reference guide that helps you to determine which service providers are able to offer cover for the equipment listed.

If you are unable to find what you are looking for, please email us:
maintenance@supplychain.nhs.uk

Continuity of cover is extremely important in maintaining equipment efficiency.  It helps avoid unplanned expense and inconvenience due to breakdowns or equipment being out of service. By working closely with you we can ensure that you avoid breaks in cover, therefore eliminating additional costs. We will notify you of any financial incentives offered by service providers and advise of your contract renewal time in advance. 

For further information about how we can support you to renew your contracts on time please click here

Why do we want to work with you to renew your contracts on time?

• To avoid the impact of breakdowns and lost clinical time due to equipment being out of service which can have serious implications on department performance.

• To avoid unplanned down time due to delays in service response where contracts have lapsed.

• Unplanned maintenance costs quickly erode any savings that you have made.

• Down time can be planned to minimise impact on patients and maximise use of clinical time.

• Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) visits can be carried out at regular intervals and at an agreed time.

• Continuity of cover is guaranteed and emergency call out charges are avoided.

• Costly PCI (Pre Contract Inspection) in the event of lapsed contracts are NOT required.

• Planning maintenance renewals enables you to make an informed decision  in terms of cover level and length of contract term (Multi-Year Contracts offer higher savings than annual contracts).

• Evaluating maintenance requirements and your installed base may stimulate equipment replacement planning.

• We guarantee that you can claim any savings made for the full contract term (as opposed to the proportion of the late renewed contract).

• Aligning your contract term to your equipment replacement programme allows you to take advantage of Multi-Year Discounts that offer improved savings opportunities which can contribute to cost improvement plan targets.

What do we see nationally?

80% of maintenance contracts are renewed late / allowed to lapse before renewal.

30% of contracts are renewed more than 90 days after the current contract expiry date.

60% of customers take out an annual contract and do not consider the benefits of a multi-year contract where commitment could deliver an average additional saving of 4.8%.

65% of customers always take out a fully comprehensive package with their current provider and do not consider alternative cover levels or providers.

Renewal incentives of £1m per year are lost due to contracts not being renewed on time – this could equate to 40 band 5 nurses or 32 Band 5 EBME’s.