How to ensure you choose a trusted supplier

NHS London Procurement Partnership (LPP) is not your typical NHS organisation. It is a team of procurement experts that was founded in 2006 and is funded and governed by its members – NHS organisations from London and beyond. Its purpose is to work in collaboration with its members to make the most of the purchasing power of the NHS to maximise investment in patient care. It helps the NHS to deliver the highest quality services, while at the same time ensuring value for money. 

Since 2006, its members have saved the NHS more than £1 billion. How this is achieved is primarily decidedin accordance with EU rules. The NHS spends about £20 bn per year on non-salary expenditure, which includes everything from medical equipment to maintaining premises. When new requirements are identified for any public sector organisation, it is obliged to follow a formal procurement process under EU legislation. Tender opportunities are advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) and it is only by responding to a contract notice in the OJEU that businesses can tender to become a supplier. Any governmentfunded organisation is obliged to follow this process for the purposes of procurement compliance. A private sector organisation, or any nongovernment funded body, interested in best practice procurement would benefit from adopting a similar approach. 

Estates, facilities and professional services include maintenance services directly related to the building (for example, heating, maintenance and building repairs), day to day services that keep buildings running (for example, waste disposal, catering, cleaning and security), transport services (including patient transport and couriers) and professional services (from legal advisors to architects and surveyors).