Developing a Sector-Wide Procurement Strategy to drive transformation in healthcare

Given the complexity of the supply chain and the need to forge better linkages, this organisation set about creating a sector-wide procurement strategy to:

• Create savings and cost efficiencies;
• Speed up the supply chain;
• Simplify the existing procurement; and
• Align governance.

ArcBlue consultants took a very collaborative approach seeking to work with them rather than for them and conducted workshops with the procurement people from all of the District Health Boards.

Through these workshops, ArcBlue sought to find:

• Areas of duplication;
• Backward, circular links; and
• Complexities in the procurement.

ArcBlue developed:

• A sector strategy;
• A new health sector operating model;
• A published procurement strategy; and
• This enabled a new flow in the process.

ArcBlue also provided ad-hoc technical coaching to stakeholders throughout the engagement.

As a result of this work, the health sector procurement strategy is being used by all related health boards and has been enthusiastically endorsed by all 20 Chief Executives of the boards.

The organisation has been able to crystallise and prioritise the issues effecting procurement to develop an action plan based on those issues.

Procurement is now largely standardised across the health boards, promoting a greater understanding of processes, governance and unifying the aim of procurement strategy.

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