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The latest NHS Supply Chain (NHSSC) supplier webinar, held on 3 December 2025, provided essential updates for suppliers on cybersecurity compliance and sustainability expectations. The session, part of NHSSC’s regular information series, featured speakers from its Cyber Security and Sustainability teams, offering insight into upcoming requirements that suppliers will need to meet to remain eligible for tenders and contracts.
Jennie Lewis, Cyber Security Compliance Coordinator at NHS Supply Chain, led the session’s opening presentation on supplier cybersecurity. She outlined NHSSC’s adoption of the UK Government’s Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 014, which sets out new baseline security expectations for all suppliers in scope.
All suppliers handling personal information or providing ICT systems and services will be required to demonstrate compliance with Cyber Essentials Plus — a government-backed certification that confirms an organisation has robust cybersecurity controls in place. Certificates must be renewed annually and verified through an external audit. Suppliers can confirm certification validity via IASME, the national accreditation body.
Suppliers processing NHS patient data will also need to complete the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT), an NHS England-mandated self-assessment to evidence responsible data handling and compliance with information governance standards. For questions on data or security requirements, suppliers can contact cybersecurity@supplychain.nhs.uk.
Where suppliers do not yet hold Cyber Essentials Plus or DSPT certification, NHS Supply Chain has introduced an Information Security Third Party Questionnaire (ISTPQ). This pass/fail assessment, completed at the Supplier Questionnaire stage of a tender, will be reviewed by NHSSC’s Cyber Security Team to assess equivalency to Cyber Essentials standards. NHSSC will take a risk-based approach to non-compliance, weighing the criticality of the product or service against potential cyber risk. However, suppliers without certification may face reduced opportunities for participation in future tenders.
The Cyber Security Team also confirmed that NHS England will be notified of any vulnerable or insecure products or services identified through this process, as part of broader efforts to strengthen supply chain resilience across the NHS.
The second presentation, delivered by Jade Gaffney, Sustainability Advisor, and Heidi Barnard, Head of Sustainability, explored the Evergreen Sustainable Supplier Assessment, one of five key sustainability criteria suppliers must meet. The “Five Asks” — covering Carbon Reduction Plans, Social Value, the Evergreen Assessment, Horizon Scanning, and Modern Slavery — are central to NHS England’s net zero and sustainability strategy.
From 1 April 2026, all suppliers bidding for new NHSSC tenders will be required to achieve Evergreen Level 1 or above. Level 1 aligns with the Carbon Reduction Plan requirements, meaning suppliers must publicly commit to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 for all scopes. Suppliers unable to meet this requirement will remain eligible for existing contracts but may be excluded from new tenders after this date.
The Evergreen Assessment is hosted on the Atamis platform, accessible under the Information section. NHSSC advised suppliers to ensure their Evergreen submission is correctly linked to their Atamis account to prevent data visibility issues. Annual updates are mandatory, with no automatic reminders issued. Suppliers gathering Scope 3 emissions data should enter “0” placeholders where figures are unavailable, ensuring the assessment remains complete. Queries about sustainability assessments can be directed to sustainability@supplychain.nhs.uk.
The Evergreen framework supports NHSSC’s goal of embedding environmental accountability throughout its supply base, ensuring that procurement decisions contribute directly to the NHS’s wider sustainability and net zero commitments.
NHS Supply Chain (NHSSC) has confirmed the approval of its Modernisation Programme, a multi-year initiative designed to update and strengthen its operations across procurement, logistics and supply management. Alongside this, it has introduced a set of Buying Principles that outline how it will approach purchasing decisions and work with suppliers.
The Modernisation Programme is structured to enhance the organisation’s commercial capability, update procurement systems, and support improved product and service pathways. According to NHSSC, the programme will involve strengthening digital tools, improving processes, and supporting greater consistency across procurement activities. It is intended to ensure that procurement is more efficient, transparent, and aligned with national objectives.
NHSCC says that the Modernisation Programme will enable it to make a step change in its ability to serve the NHS and patients across England, by investing in IT and supply chain infrastructures through a multi-year programme.
Andrew New, Chief Executive Officer of NHS Supply Chain, commented: “This investment will be used to grow the value of our procurement and delivery services to meet the needs of all of our service users and stakeholders in a resilient and modern system-centric way.
“It will also enable us to address our critical IT resilience risks, as well as delivering our commitment to return a minimum of £1 billion of recurring annual value to the NHS by 2030.”
A short explanatory video released by NHSSC highlights several areas of development within the programme, including improvements to digital infrastructure, enhanced data visibility, and refined systems intended to deliver better outcomes for the wider NHS. The programme is described as a significant step in preparing NHSSC for future demands on procurement and supply management.
NHSSC has also published its new Buying Principles, outlining the standards and considerations that guide purchasing decisions. These principles state that buying decisions will be evidence-based, transparent, and designed to provide value for money while supporting the needs of the NHS.
The principles include commitments to consistency, fairness, and long-term value, as well as an emphasis on quality and ensuring that procurement decisions contribute positively to patient care. NHSSC notes that the updated approach is intended to improve clarity for suppliers, offering a clearer framework for how purchasing decisions are made.
While the principles are high-level, they directly relate to suppliers by setting expectations for the evaluation of goods and services. NHSSC states that the principles will support more efficient, transparent decision-making and give suppliers greater visibility of the factors that influence category strategies and contracting.
The Modernisation Programme states that the new Buying Principles and modernisation activities will help create clearer pathways for engagement with suppliers. The principles indicate that suppliers should expect NHSSC to apply consistent criteria and evidence-based methods during procurement exercises.
The Modernisation Programme includes changes to digital tools and commercial processes that will support enhanced interactions with suppliers. These developments are framed as improvements to the way NHSSC manages sourcing, contracting, and ongoing supplier relationships.
The BHTA joined NHS Supply Chain’s (NHSCC) latest supplier webinar on 12 November 2025 to hear updates on key procurement developments. The session provided practical information to help suppliers understand upcoming changes, maintain compliance with NHS procurement standards, and engage more effectively with NHSCC.
Matthew Griffin, Head of Procurement Operations, outlined how NHSCC is helping suppliers adapt to changes brought about by the Procurement Act 2023. A series of new user guides, short videos, and updated website content has been created to make information easier to access. For more information and access to these supplier resources, visit the NHSCC suppliers section.
Matthew also emphasised NHSCC’s increasing focus on cyber security, with new requirements to safeguard systems and sensitive data. A dedicated section on the website provides guidance on meeting these standards. He highlighted the importance of early engagement with the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) and recommended suppliers familiarise themselves with the Contract and Tender Process pages.
The updated procurement calendar was also noted as a useful tool showing NHSCC’s current and upcoming contract pipeline.
Tim Plackett, Performance and Risk Manager, underlined the importance of keeping supplier information up to date within the Central Digital Platform (CDP). Suppliers should ensure their company and product details, including insurance certificates, accreditations, and financial standing, remain current. This supports smoother tenders and contract management.
Tim encouraged suppliers to provide as much detail as possible, stating to suppliers that a good rule of thumb is to assume buyers know nothing about them. He clarified that Supplier Economic and Financial Standing (EFS) is not a pass or fail measure, but it may affect how NHSCC works with individual suppliers.
Category managers can also provide product data extracts at contract level to suppliers, including some information about competitors, though these exclude sensitive commercial information.
Byron Vincent, Head of Performance and Business Management, presented the Buying Principles, which reflect NHSCC’s commitment to more sustainable, fair, transparent, and effective procurement. The principles form part of NHSCC’s wider modernisation programme and align with national health objectives under the NHS 10-Year Plan.
Centred around three ambitions – Buy Smart, Supply Right, and Partner Expertly – the framework aims to deliver £1 billion in cumulative value to the NHS by 2030. Byron explained that NHSCC will place greater emphasis on value-based procurement, assessing the total value of products and services rather than focusing solely on cost.
The seven buying principles are:
The British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA) has obtained valuable information through an FOI request to Supply Chain Coordination Limited (SSCL), which runs NHS Supply Chain, about how many payment increase requests it receives from suppliers, what happens and how long they take, alongside the process for granting a request.
The questions sent to SSCL are all based on questions that BHTA members regularly ask NHS Supply Chain.
David Stockdale, Chief Executive of the BHTA, submitted the freedom of information (FOI) request to SSCL, which then provided the following responses.
Between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025, NHS Supply Chain received 105 price increase requests from suppliers. Of these, 32 price increase requests were approved. 13 price increase requests were rejected during these 12 months, while 10 price increase requests were withdrawn by the supplier.
NHS Supply Chain said that the average timeframe for a decision to be made on a price increase request (from submission to final outcome) was 84 days.
The BHTA also asked about any existing NHS Supply Chain policy or guidance outlining the process and criteria for evaluating price increase requests. NHS Supply Chain provided its Supplier Price Increase Workflow document, which details its workflow for dealing with requests.
Download the full FOI request response to the BHTA from SSCL here (PDF).
Download the full Supplier Price Increase Workflow document here (PDF).
At the recent British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA) Conference 2024, Andrew New, CEO of NHS Supply Chain, explored how NHS Supply Chain will change over the next five years to make it better to work in and with.
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.
Andrew explained the fundamentals of the organisation: “NHS Supply Chain exists to try to simplify the way marketplaces work; to try to engage trusts on a collective basis so we get consistent decision-making, and it’s not sporadic as it has been historically; and to make these markets work more effectively.
“We’ve been doing a lot over the last year or so to reorganise the way we work at the same time as continuing to run very fast in delivering the benefits that all of our supply base offer to the NHS. None of this can be done without the whole system working together, and that’s a key principle of everything we’ve done.”
Andrew highlighted that NHS Supply Chain initially started out doing a fantastic job of focusing on what it was asked to do but not doing the job the NHS needs in the future. The slide below details some of the areas where NHS Supply Chain has built on solid foundations to ensure it is fit for the future.
In one year, NHS Supply Chain and suppliers have achieved a lot, Andrew explained. Headline achievements include:
He underlined that there is an opportunity to save £40 million across the NHS, but there is a backlog of work, and it requires clinical intervention.
Andrew shared NHS Supply Chain’s strategy and corporate priorities. See the slide below for further details.
One key point from Andrew’s presentation was around NHS Supply Chain’s work to enhance the clinical voice across the organisation.
“We need to enhance that voice both in the conversations we have with trusts as well as with suppliers,” he continued. “We’ve brought in a new national clinical director, Michelle Johnson, who is bringing together a clinical community to make sure we have clinically led decision-making everywhere. That is hugely valuable to us as an organisation, and we’re already seeing the benefits.”
NHS Supply Chain is going to clinically segment products in terms of priority, importance, value, and making a difference in healthcare outcomes. The organisation also wants to simplify prices so that there are not 10 different prices for the same thing.
See the slides below for an outline on the work NHS Supply Chain is doing to transform its commercial capabilities, strengthen the supply chain, and improve processes.
To accelerate traceability of medical devices, NHS Supply Chain has launched a new policy on Data Standards for Supplier Product Coding.
The new policy means that medical devices and clinical consumables suppliers are to adopt globally recognised coding standards for product identification, preferably the GS1 Global Trade Item Number (GTIN).
NHS Supply Chain also requires medical devices to carry ‘Unique Device Identification’ (UDI) compliant barcode labels, which will carry scannable information relating to the production of the device, for example the expiry date and the serial or lot number.
There are two documents available to download on the NHS Supply Chain website relating to the new policy.
According to NHS Supply Chain, improving data on medical devices across the NHS system is a key contributor to improving patient safety through greater and more rapid traceability.
It says that, at the moment, medical device data is not routinely collected in a consistent manner or standardised digital format. Current processes are often paper-based and lack standardisation and validation, which means that tracing medical devices is time consuming and laborious and linking devices to patient outcomes difficult.
NHS Supply Chain’s vision is that a single scan from inventory management systems can be integrated to have many uses across the NHS.
The adoption of global standards, such as GS1, for product identification, enhances the traceability of medical devices and other products used in an episode of patient care. It also means that the clinical time required for product or patient recall is reduced.
The GS1 standards provide a common foundation and consistent format and enables the unique identification, capture, and sharing of information automatically. When data describing medical devices is captured electronically it can be easily associated with a patient and provide accurate information about which devices have been used in their care.
This electronic data capture for product forms part of the NHS England Scan4Safety programme methodology to capture data for person (patient and caregiver), product, place, and procedure.
Access to this data electronically in a standard format enables it to be interrogated and performance of medical devices can be monitored, patient outcomes measured, and any potential issues with devices can be identified faster and more easily allowing clinicians to intervene and if necessary, prevent harm before it happens.
The policy will also support NHS Supply Chain in improving the quality of its critical product data and increasing the number of GTINs it holds for medical products in its catalogue.
New data reveals that the NHS is missing out on procurements savings amounting to tens of millions of pounds.
In a report published today, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) warns that NHS Supply Chain, which was created to save the NHS money through pooling hospitals’ purchasing power, has failed to persuade NHS trusts to use it to make billions in purchases.
The full report, ‘NHS Supply Chain and efficiencies in procurement: Twenty-Fourth Report of Session 2023–24’, can be read here.
NHS Supply Chain was created to solve the known problem that the NHS was not making the most of its collective buying power to get the lowest prices for its purchases.
PAC’s report finds that the organisation has so far failed to demonstrate that it is the answer the NHS needs. Of the £7.9 billion spent by NHS trusts on medical equipment and consumables, £3.4 billion is outside of NHS Supply Chain. This means that it is only achieving around 57 percent of market share to a target of 62 percent (a target revised down from an original 80 percent by 2023-24).
Trusts’ satisfaction with NHS Supply Chain is low and in steady decline (down to 54 percent in 2023-24 from a peak of 67 percent in 2021-22), according to the report. Over two-thirds of trusts say they shop elsewhere because of limited availability through NHS Supply Chain.
The report further raises concerns that a focus on costs may impact on the quality of outcomes for patients. The report, which finds that clinicians are not convinced that NHS England (NHSE) and NHS Supply Chain value quality over price, calls for clinicians to be involved in purchasing choices to ensure that better patient care is considered alongside value and cost.
David Stockdale, Chief Executive at BHTA, has underlined that the association and its members will continue to work alongside NHS Supply Chain to ensure procurement works for the whole of the medtech supply chain to ensure better patient outcomes.
“The BHTA and our members continue to be ready to work with NHS Supply Chain and the broader UK medtech supply chain to ensure procurement works for the whole of the supply chain, to ultimately deliver the patient outcomes we all want,” said David.
“We recognise the healthcare landscape is challenging for all parties currently and continue to believe that genuine engagement from all stakeholders will lead to the best outcomes.”
The report also questions the level of savings NHS Supply Chain reports it has made for the NHS. NHSE shared the organisation’s reported savings with it but using two different methods which generated two very different figures – £3.3 billion from 2016-17 to 2022-23, and £1.7 billion for the same period, risking confusion over how much NHS Supply Chain has actually saved. Trusts do not always recognise the savings that NHS Supply Chain reports, causing frustration and mistrust, PAC states.
PAC’s confidence in savings claimed by NHS Supply Chain is further undermined by the fact that the cumulative £3.3billion claimed has not been validated by either the UK Government or NHSE, with the organisation effectively marking its own homework.
Dame Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the Committee, said: “The problem NHS Supply Chain was created to address is well-established. Given the scale of the NHS’ collective billions of pounds worth of collective spend on procurement, ensuring the best value for money for the taxpayer is essential. But our report finds that trusts do not have the requisite confidence in NHS Supply Chain to utilise its services, leaving it at risk of being an answer to a question no-one is asking.
“Cost is of course only one factor when making high-stakes decisions around which equipment to use for patients, and it is essential that clinicians are given a seat at the table so that better patient care is considered alongside best value. All agree that high-quality equipment must be readily available to NHS trusts at the best possible price. The hard yards must now be put in to build trust in the systems that are there to deliver these outcomes.”
In response to PAC’s report, an NHS Supply Chain spokesperson stated: “We are committed to realising the full potential of NHS Supply Chain to deliver greater savings and efficiencies alongside a broader value proposition focussing on supply chain resilience, product safety, enabling access to innovation, social value, sustainability, and ethical considerations.
“We have redesigned NHS Supply Chain’s operating model and embarked on a major modernisation programme to upgrade key infrastructure and IT systems. We need to further improve and integrate our platforms to provide a more consistent experience for colleagues across the NHS and suppliers. As the NAO report highlighted our funding is managed on a year-by-year business cycle in line with NHS England’s business planning process.
“We are continuing to work together with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), NHS England, NHS trusts, suppliers, and other system partners across the country to improve procurement in the NHS. This will be achieved through ongoing collaboration, partnership working and innovation.
“Over the last year we have been strengthening our engagement with our NHS partners to improve our understanding of their needs through our quarterly national and regional advisory forums, various panels and working groups. We are continuing to develop these engagement forums to ensure that they bring the voice of NHS colleagues and patients into the heart of our organisation. These engagement forums support our goals to make substantial improvements in satisfaction with our services by ensuring our business plans focus on those matters that will make the greatest difference to the NHS.
“NHS Supply Chain is clear that we can deliver over £1 billion of value by 2030. This can only be achieved by working in collaboration with all groups within the NHS, national bodies, industry associations, suppliers and NHS England. We have worked with NHS England and national representatives of the NHS trusts to develop a new standard saving methodology for the entire NHS and it’s expected that this method will be ready for all parties to use to calculate savings from April 2024. Our programme is aligned to this approach and reporting method.”
A new report from the National Audit Office (NAO), the UK’s independent public spending watchdog, has revealed that the NHS is not making the most of its spending power to save money in purchasing medical equipment and consumables.
Entitled ‘NHS Supply Chain and efficiencies in procurement’, the report has found that the NHS has continued to spend more than £3 billion outside NHS Supply Chain, its purpose-built procurement route.
The NAO examined how effectively NHS Supply Chain is making efficiencies across NHS procurement and whether it has achieved its objectives of saving money and increasing its share of products (medical equipment and consumables) bought through it by the NHS.
For 2023-24, NHS Supply Chain estimates that annual NHS spending on products is around £8 billion.
At its inception in 2019, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) set NHS Supply Chain a target to deliver £2.4 billion savings by 2023-24. As of 2022-23, it told the NAO that it had exceeded its £2.4 billion savings target – but although NHS Supply Chain reported progress against this target to NHS England (NHSE) on a quarterly basis, neither NHSE nor the DHSC has validated or checked these savings, the report underlines.
Importantly, the report states that NHS trusts spend approximately £3.4 billion outside of NHS Supply Chain’s function. Trusts are largely free to purchase goods outside Supply Chain, but in order to achieve its objective – to harness the NHS’s spending power – NHS Supply Chain needs to persuade them to use it to purchase goods.
There is a still lot of variation in the prices trusts pay. For example, for each hip replacement stem part purchased by the NHS in 2022-23, individual trusts paid up to £490, with a median price of £333. Supply Chain’s price for the same product was £258, which was the lowest price for that product.
In addition, the report outlines that customers’ overall levels of satisfaction with NHS Supply Chain are below target and in long-term decline. In its latest customer satisfaction survey, 71.8 percent of respondents noted that they use other supply routes because the products they wanted were not available through Supply Chain.
NAO further states that NHS Supply Chain needs to improve the performance of eDirect, a procurement route accounting for around £1.5 billion of orders via Supply Chain in 2022-23. Orders via this route were delivered on average 22 days late between June 2022 and March 2023.
Supply Chain recognises that its systems and processes do not work well for all its customers and that it needs to do more to become, and demonstrate that it is, the best-value option for NHS procurement. To do this, it needs to optimise prices for customers, make ordering as straightforward as possible, and deliver reliably on orders placed, the NAO suggests.
Gareth Davies, Head of the NAO, commented: “Delivering the right products for the NHS, on time and at the best available price is essential to make every pound count for patients. The NHS has enormous buying power, but it is not yet making the most of it.
“Supply Chain needs to do more to deliver, and to show that it is delivering, for the NHS. In response, trusts need to make use of the NHS’s buying power to secure the lower costs Supply Chain can bring, with support and clear direction from NHSE.”
In light of the report’s findings, the NAO recommends that NHSE should use its data on trusts’ spending to understand and challenge why trusts are not using NHS Supply Chain and incentivise and encourage greater use of NHS Supply Chain.
It also states that NHS Supply Chain should improve its understanding of why some customers are unsatisfied with its services and develop a targeted action plan to make substantial improvements in satisfaction.
This document was created in association with NHS Supply Chain and is endorsed by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.
View and download this guidance as a PDF here.
For years, the experience of patients trying to find the right walking aid has been a confusing one. Suppliers and manufacturers have described products in different ways, and the way patients are measured to find the right one for them has also differed.
To improve the experience for walking aid users and the professionals who support them, NHS Supply Chain has engaged with the British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA) members, professional bodies and their members, suppliers and walking aid users to develop industry standard terminology, sizing criteria and ways of measuring patients.
NHS Supply Chain is asking everyone to adopt the first wrist crease as the initial measurement point, prior to using clinical reasoning and patient comfort in the final height decision.
The following terms and ranges have been agreed for implementation by NHS Supply Chain. Suppliers and distributors are being encouraged to adopt the same.
Width – Ultra Narrow, Narrow, Standard Width, Wide, and Extra Wide
Height – Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large.
The agreed measurements of the above are detailed below.
| Ultra Narrow | ≤499mm |
| Narrow | 500mm – 550mm |
| Standard Width | 551mm – 600mm |
| Wide | 601mm – 650mm |
| Extra Wide | 651mm – no upper limit |
| Small | ≤649mm |
| Medium | 650mm – 849mm |
| Large | 850mm – 949mm |
| Extra Large | 950mm – no upper limit |
Where a product spans multiple height ranges then the naming convention would be the start and end bracket. For example, a product with a height of 720mm-1,010mm would be termed Medium-Extra Large.
An example product description would be: Double Adjustable Crutch, Medium-Large (650-900mm), SWL 160kg.