Involve doctors in NHS purchasing decisions to get best value care, say MPs

The NHS should involve doctors in decisions about buying medical goods and equipment so that better patient care is considered alongside value and cost, MPs have recommended.

The recommendation is one of several made in a report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee,1 which warns that the NHS in England is squandering tens of millions of pounds of potential savings because of hospital trusts’ reluctance to pool their purchasing power by using the NHS Supply Chain service.

NHS Supply Chain was created in 2018 to help the NHS make the most of its collective buying power and achieve the lowest prices on purchases for medical equipment and consumables, from gloves and paper to stents and prosthetic hips. But the committee warned that …