NAO: NHS bosses must prioritise buying decisions

National Audit Office chief Amyas Morse comments as he publishes a report on the procurement of consumables by NHS trusts:

“At least ten per cent of hospitals’ spending on consumables, amounting to some £500 million a year, could be saved if trusts got together to buy products in a more collaborative way.

“In the new NHS of constrained budgets, trust chief executives should consider procurement as a strategic priority.

“Given the scale of the potential savings which the NHS is currently failing to capture, we believe it is important to find effective ways to hold trusts directly to account to parliament for their procurement practices.”