NHS Procurement

Public procurement is the process whereby public sector organisations procure goods, services and works from third parties. It includes much that supports the work of government and ranges from routine items (e.g., stationery, temporary office staff, furniture or printed forms), to complex spend areas (e.g., construction, Private Finance Initiative projects, medical devices or support to major change initiatives).

NHS procurement is a relatively complex process and sits within an ever changing organisational and economic landscape. For an overview see the GM AHSN’s Guide to NHS Procurement fact sheets.

Health Innovation Manchester, via the use of dedicated Procurement Advisors, aims to provide support and advice to SMEs and innovators to enable them to understand the NHS commissioning and procurement landscape with the intention of increasing their share of the NHS marketplace and will also provide support and advice to NHS organisations to help them to increase spend with SMEs as part of the requirement to continuously improve their procurement performance.

Health Innovation Manchester’s Procurement Advisors will work in partnership with NHS Procurement colleagues and industry to increase the alignment and relevance of innovative new products and services to meet the needs of the NHS and patients.

We will work closely with academia, incubators, growth and accelerator hubs and Chambers of Commerce to identify SMEs and innovators developing products and services for the healthcare sector who may require our support and advice.

We will work in partnership with the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), NICE, the Department of Business, Innovation & Skill (BIS) and the local Clinical Research Network (CRN) to ensure that innovations are more easily matched to NHS needs and commissioning organisations are aware of the new products and services.