Our winners were commended on really good use of procurement process, from soft market testing, right the way through to contract award

Procurement

Winner: Arden & Greater East Midlands (GEM) Commissioning Support Unit

When families move around the country or the world, child health records can easily become lost or misplaced. Between the ages of 0-5 every child receives more than a dozen important immunisations and needs to be screened for dozens more diseases. Only by ensuring the most safe, accurate and up to date child health records is it possible to ensure every child receives the health interventions they need to grow up in full health.

In 2013, NHS England assumed responsibility for the direct commissioning of Child Health Information Services (CHIS). CHIS are patient administration systems that provide a clinical record for individual children and support a variety of health activities.

In the West Midlands, NHS England wanted to procure a new CHIS solution for the 12 areas in this patch that cover a child (0-19) population of more than one million.

In 2013, NHS England assumed responsibility for the direct commissioning of Child Health Information Services (CHIS)

By engaging with the market and undertaking a thorough options appraisal, Arden & GEM CSU was able to procure a new contract from a single supplier. In addition to standardising processes and ensuring service compliance across the West Midlands, the contract has been able to secure financial savings of £4.4m over its five year period.

Judges’ comment: Really good use of procurement process, from soft market testing, right the way through to contract award. Outstanding market research and engagement.

Clear benefits case and excellent example of collaborative approach. All CSUs across the country should be informed of this fabulous work and it rolled out nationally by NHS England.

Highly commended: NHS Shared Business Services

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Revealed: 2016 winners of the HSJ Value Awards