NHS Supply Chain: Food has just published an innovative new Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for fresh food procurement, one of the first national companies to have a DPS for food. It will be launching later this year.
DPS will be used for fresh food and aims at overcoming barriers to entry that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face when tendering to supply NHS trusts. The process will be made simpler with this new DPS by not asking suppliers for any financial evaluations at the point of entering the DPS process. Financial evaluations will take place at a later stage in the process.
The electronic system which suppliers can join at any time encourages more competition, attracts more SMEs, along with more regional and local suppliers. It will also speed up the approval process for suppliers and is flexible, but still ensures compliance to the Public Contract Regulations 2015. An ‘open market’ solution, the DPS is designed to give buyers access to a pool of pre-qualified suppliers.
The supplier benefits are:
There is no deadline date for applicant submissions for the DPS, and NHS Supply Chain: Food anticipates suppliers being able to join at any point during the seven-year term, allowing the ongoing admission of suppliers throughout this period. Allows better supply chain resilience for customers through an increased supply base. Encourage an increase in local suppliers who can serve the NHS, allowing collaboration with regional groups of NHS trusts and increasing competition. Supports NHS Supply Chain: Foods to align with Green Plan objectives that trusts have set, ensuring their sustainability targets and goals remain a high priority in fresh food. The DPS will include the use of a minimum of 10 per cent social value weighting for all competition exercises, meaning tenders must include a minimum of 10 per cent of the total award criteria to social value.
NHS Supply Chain: Food is keen to encourage NHS catering teams to share their local supply chains for fresh food, including meat and poultry, fruit and vegetables, dairy, bread, morning goods and meat alternatives, to help drive better solutions for patients, staff and visitors including supporting the local economy.
Date: 15 August