A private firm has won a £720m contract to centralise delivery services for NHS trusts.
Unipart Logistics, based in Oxfordshire, has won a £730 million, 5-year contract to supply and deliver products such as bandages, gloves and surgical equipment to NHS trusts in England.
The Department for Health and Social Care claims the contract will save billions of pounds by simplifying the NHS goods-buying process and reducing price variation between trusts.
A home delivery service will make up around 10% of the contract, which will allow some patients to receive supplies and be cared for in their own home.
‘Streamlining the process’.
Steve Barclay, Conservative Party MP and Health Minister, said: “Our long-term plan will see billions of pounds invested into the NHS, but we have to make sure that every penny of this is spent as wisely and effectively as possible.
“A modern health service shouldn’t involve 234 separate trusts spending time and money negotiating different contracts and prices for the same thing. That’s why our work to centralise how the NHS buys goods and services is crucial.
“By streamlining the process and freeing trusts up from having to do this, we will save staff valuable time, save huge amounts of money and be able to reinvest the savings into patient care and frontline services.”