NHS trusts eye £5bn savings in supply chain deal
The NHS Shelford Group of 10 trusts has inked a deal with software firm Virtualstock to use its supply chain management software.
It’s thought the deal will help the group surpass NHS targets of £5bn in savings by 2020. A February report estimated that £5bn is lost in the NHS through waste and price variations every year.
Virtualstock – which is backed by Nick Jenkins, founder of personalised greeting cards company Moonpig.com – is also understood to be in advanced talks with three other NHS trusts in England and is expected to close the deals soon.
Virtualstock first launched in the health sector last year, with its software used by Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
“We wanted to embed best practice by replicating the best in retail. We need to deliver at pace, so we have adopted VS, the same digital platform used by some of the UK’s largest retailers to deliver both a common catalogue solution and a platform for future process improvement,” said David Lawson, chief procurement officer at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
The firm’s software is also used by Tesco, Argos, Maplin, and Office Depot.