NHSE Chief Commercial Officer Jacqui Rock unveiled the NHS England Central Commercial Function (CCF) Strategic Framework for NHS Commercial at the HCSA Winter Conference in Manchester today.
HCSA was pleased that our winter conference was chosen to launch this important initiative which provided a fantastic opportunity for our members to learn more and engage.
We’re also pleased to note that some HCSA members and colleagues from across the NHS commercial, procurement and supply chain landscape were involved in informing the creation of the initiative.
HCSA believes it sets a common purpose and vision to develop, evolve and underpin the delivery of world class care to NHS patients and service users.
Our initial view is that the framework contains much we agree with and support in the critical areas of recruitment, retention and learning & development of NHS Commercial, Procurement and Supply Chain and we also welcome the renewed focus on ecommerce systems and the development of the collaborative ICS procurement model.
We recognise that there is still much more to do for the framework to be successful, and with this in mind HCSA supports the continued engagement with professionals across NHS commercial, procurement and supply chain to ensure it is developed to be as flexible as possible to meet the varied needs of all affected.
Many members and colleagues across the profession will already be busy digesting the details contained within the framework and we fully expect a diverse reaction to it. Ultimately though, we hope that we can all unite around this framework to develop, influence and shape the future of the commercial function.