Supply Chain Resilience

NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSEI) supported by NHS Supply Chain continues to carefully manage the supply of key consumables in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the UK transition from the EU.

Ensuring all NHS trusts have equal access to key consumables required to provide patient care remains a top priority. Working alongside external organisations, NHS Supply Chain is focussing on enabling supply chain resilience for the NHS.

Weekly Customer Update

Most recent ICNs, contracts and savings

National Consumables Reserve

To ensure supply resilience, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), will continue to hold and manage the National Consumables Reserve within NHS Supply Chain. Following a critical review, NHSEI has decided to reduce national reserves to new levels.

Click here to find out more about how NHS Supply Chain will be supporting the reduction of surplus reserve stock.

Demand Management

A transition began in December last year. NHS Supply Chain will take ownership of the NHSEI Demand Management Tool and will manage all products ‘subject to allocation’ and short supply.

We will continue to monitor customer demand changes and those products subject to customer thresholds.

NHS Supply Chain under the instruction of NHSEI are carefully managing the supply of key ICU consumables. Ensuring all NHS trusts have equal access to key ICU consumables required to provide patient care remains a top priority.

Where there is an exceptional increase in national demand for ICU products, they will be suspended with immediate effect. Any other product suspensions will be managed outside of this process via the normal Important Customer Notice (ICN) route.

Click here to see how we are managing the supply of ICU consumables.

NHS England has released a useful and informative resource for Local Procurement and Supplies teams to signpost clinical queries in relation to COVID-19. It provides links for Primary Care, Secondary Care, Community, Social Care, and Ambulance Services with sections providing specific support and information by each individual clinical speciality.

Click here to access the NHS England Guidance for Clinical Queries.

The webinars take place the second Thursday of each month at 12pm, providing updates on NHS Supply Chain projects and issues impacting our customers.

Webinars will cover topics such as the transition of Personal Protective Equipment supply, Winter Planning, Sustainability, Improving our technology and systems. They will also provide a chance for you to ask questions in a live Q&A.

If you have not received an invitation, please contact us at events@supplychain.nhs.uk to register for the series.

See our Downloads ▼ section to read through the latest webinar slides.