MTA Calendar FAQs

A Multi Trust Aggregation (MTA) opportunity is where we at NHS Supply Chain combine (aggregate), similar capital requirements from multiple trusts, across different product areas in order to achieve greater discounts from our suppliers, making savings for your trust.

Identify the equipment area you are looking to secure an MTA for and see if this fits within the product areas on the MTA calendar.

If you are unsure what product area this sits within or if the dates do not work for your trust, speak to your NHS Supply Chain Capital Planner to help you identify whether there is an opportunity available to fit your requirements.

You must be able to raise a PO for the final MTA order value, within the agreed 30-day timescale after the MTA Unique Reference Number (URN) is issued. A successful MTA is dependent on each trust committing to providing their PO within the 30-day period of being in receipt of the URN, with no cancellations. Trusts may also want to consider the following points:

You have confirmation that your funding is approved?
The quotation(s) is final and no revisions are to be made?
You are able to provide a purchase order directly to NHS Supply Chain, no later than 30 days after the URN is issued?
You are in a position to wait around a week for the URN to be issued?*
If there are multiple quotations, will these be ordered on separate purchase orders?
Will this be purchased via charitable funding?


*URN issue date may vary due to length of supplier negotiations

NHS Supply Chain will provide NHS trusts with new quotes/quote summary/URN seven days after the MTA closing date at the final discounted MTA price.

This will be raised to NHS Supply Chain. Details of this will be included on your URN issued document.

An MTA is dependent on commitment to purchasing from all trusts, any failure on commitment will mean the discounted pricing will not being secured.

We combine (aggregate) similar requirements from multiple trusts, across multiple product areas, to achieve greater discount from our suppliers.

This process works successfully by combining all trusts’ requirements. Any trust that cancels will impact the combined MTA, resulting in potential lost savings for all trusts involved.

Yes, we can review this in all instances, please speak to your regional NHS Supply Chain Capital Planner.

Yes, a trust is able to do this, however they must advise NHS Supply Chain before they commit to the MTA, so we can manage the supplier’s expectations of when this purchase order will be received.

NHS Supply Chain aims to issue this around one week after the MTA closing date.*

*URN issue date may vary due to length of supplier negotiations

Potentially, in some cases where trusts do want to hold back their requirement until the key MTA date, but most of our suppliers are happy to pre order equipment once the trusts have committed to the MTA.