Healthcare Digital May 2022 | Page 82

DAVID LAWSON CHIEF PROCUREMENT OFFICER , GUY ’ S AND ST THOMAS ’ NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

and support to transform the procurement service ,” Lawson says . “ In response to the request for help , we expanded the team and created SmartTogether .”

SmartTogether was able to apply common performance standards for order management , inventory management , and CIP delivery . In the first year of Lewisham and Great Ormond Street joining the shared service , CIP delivery increased five-fold . Lawson explains how this helps improve procurement : “ We have a scorecard with key metrics and we compare each of the member trusts against national benchmarks , as well as benchmarks within the shared service to drive that performance .”

He also spoke about some of the resulting effects of SmartTogether : “ We ' re seeing process improvement , expansion of inventory management systems , and cost improvement delivery as well . So we ' ve been able to influence more spend .”

Channelling NHS contracts through select strategic partners Without its partner organisations , the SmartTogether service would not have been as well-received as the team has experienced . The organisation works closely with selected strategic partnerships

to encourage efficiency and more sustainable operations across its network of healthcare services .

SmartTogether partners with Apogee , an HP company specialising in print services , to funnel its printing resources and technology solutions through the company , which supports all the member Trusts of the shared service . Partnering with Apogee resulted in an organisation-wide revamp of its printers , creating an ecosystem of manageable and more sustainable machines , and also allowed SmartTogether to leverage Apogee ’ s managed print services at scale .

Lawson explains how the Trust has negotiated better solutions across all operations . “ It means that we ' ve been able to negotiate better technology and better processes as well ,” he says .

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