At the recent British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA) Conference 2024, Fiona Hilton, Director of Commercial Best Practice & Engagement for NHS England, discussed The Procurement Act 2023 and the Strategic Framework for NHS Commercial.
The BHTA Conference 2024 focused on the UK healthtech landscape over the next five years. It was a chance for BHTA members to hear from senior government and NHS speakers about how the changes made today will impact the future of the health service.
Fiona highlighted the NHS Commercial portfolio and how it all links together. This revolves around four central initiatives: the NHS Central Commercial Function (CCF) service offers, the Commercial Efficiencies Programme, the Procurement Act, and the Strategic Framework for NHS Commercial. See the slide below for further details.
“We’re trying to link the NHS much more into how the whole of central commercial government works, so that we can collaborate and engage with some of the standard practices that are already in place,” Fiona said.
One key point from Fiona’s presentation is that healthcare procurement is set to transform in 2024 with the introduction of two new procurement regimes: the Procurement Act 2023 and the Provider Selection Regime (PSR).
Fiona emphasised that the NHS believes that the Procurement Act 2023 is key to transforming procurement in the medtech sector. The Act will go live on 28 October 2024.
“We believe that the Procurement Act is a fundamental catalyst to enable change,” added Fiona. “It’s really key for us to be able to establish what we want to do on innovation, working with SMEs, and enabling greater transparency with our suppliers.”
The Procurement Act 2023, she said, will introduce a new competitive and flexible procedure that will enable the NHS to work innovatively and faster with suppliers. It simplifies the regulations that govern public procurement and promises increased commercial flexibility.
Additionally, within the Act, the Competitive Flexible Procedure will allow contracting authorities to design processes that best suit their needs, rather than follow suboptimal standardised procedures.
Importantly, Fiona stressed that the Act will give the NHS an enhanced to take into account poor performance suppliers and the potential debarment of those that do not improve, which will help the NHS improve outcomes.
Additionally, Fiona encouraged medtech suppliers to become familiar with the PSR, which launched in January 2024. It represents a new set of rules governing healthcare services in England. The PSR exempts healthcare contracts from the formal public procurement regime. Fiona added that the regime enables a more flexible, proportionate process when awarding healthcare contracts.
Another important topic from the presentation was around the Strategic Framework for NHS Commercial, which aims to be globally renowned, supporting the delivery of the world-class Commercial Function in healthcare, in patient care, and in outcomes. See the slide below for more information.
Fiona explained: “The Strategic Framework was put together originally in order to be able to support the whole of commercial healthcare for outcomes, not just about value for money upfront. It was about benefitting the whole of the life cycle, and the outcomes across all of commercial.”