Procurement

We operate a “No Purchase Order, No Payment” approach for payment of invoices.  When goods have been delivered or services provided, the supplier must raise an invoice to the value of what has been supplied (inclusive of VAT where applicable) for the Trust to pay.

 

All supplier invoices must state a valid and in-date Purchase Order Number (PO Number), sent directly to our invoicing system provider ELFS addressed as listed in the contact details section.

 

Once the invoice is received, ELFS will scan the invoice so it will appear on the purchase ledger under the correct supplier account and purchase order.  Once received, the Trust endeavours to pay all valid, accurate and undisputed invoices within 28 days of receipt.

 

Contact

Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
PO Box 17395
Birmingham
B9 9NP

Submit all BCHC invoices / credit notes electronically to  elfs.820bco@cloud-trade.net

Our Head of Procurement, Senior Procurement Manager and Supply Operations Manager form the Leadership Team and are responsible for the creation and delivery of the Procurement Strategy, Work Plans, Policies and Procedures as well as the daily management and support to the team and the Trust.  The Leadership Team is also responsible for the delivery of the local, regional and national programmes as well as eradicating non-compliant procurement processes within the Trust.

 

The operational elements of our service are divided into two key functions, Procurement and Purchasing. 

• Our Procurement Team focus on the delivery of tender exercises focusing on high value and or high risk programmes, we also support the ongoing contract management and efficient initiatives.  The Procurement Team also undertake all matters relating to dispute resolution, contract negotiations and  delivery of the Procurement Strategy. 
• Our Purchasing Team support and manage the entire Purchase to Pay (P2P) process for the Trust, this includes the ordering of goods and services, managing requisitions, approvals, creating purchase orders and the receipting of goods.  The Purchasing Team also troubleshoots supply chain matters to ensure we remain a highly effective and resilient Trust.

 

As a service, our aim is to raise the standards of purchasing and supply chain activity throughout the Trust and foster collaboration with other NHS Trusts and Public Sector bodies to maximise our opportunities and performance.

 

Procurement Team: 0121 466 7536

The Procurement Budget is predominantly pay-related with a small amount of non-pay linked to the annual licensing costs of our eProcurement Portal, Catalogue Management System and Procurement Hub Membership.  Details of expenditure are provided as part of the Trust position available through the financial reports of the Board papers (insert link).

Our Terms and Conditions

As an NHS body, we utilise the national standard terms and conditions for the procurement of goods and non-clinical services (supported by Joint Tribunal Council [JTC] terms as appropriate). These terms and conditions are applied to all our contracts and are supported with tailored schedules reflective of the nature of the provision.

 

Priorities and Performance

Our Procurement function is also measured against the NHS Procurement Standards programme, to ensure we are performing well and continuing to improve.

Finally, our Procurement function is measured against the Lord Carter of Coles Procurement Metrics, as set out in the Unwarranted Variations paper, available via request.

 

 

Procurement Policies and Procedures

Our Trust Standing Financial Instructions (SFI) provides the local policy which governs our activities.  A copy of our SFIs can be found  in our policy (available on request).

In addition to the SFIs, the Procurement Manual was created by our team to clearly set out our procedures and processes applicable to all procurement situations.

 

Lists and Registers

If you wish to find out information relating to the contract we have in place, you can view the online contracts register on our Procurement Portal. You do not need to register to access this information and you can filter the results to show our listings online.

All procurement activities are governed by our Standing Financial Instructions to ensuring a clear, transparent and robust process is followed when making decisions.  This includes formal approval processes for recommendations suited to the value and/or risks to the Trust, automated systems to ensure adequate segregation of duties and pre and post programme scrutiny including auditing.

 

Where applicable, the outcome of our tender exercises is published online. 

Our objectives are documented within our Procurement Strategy. Summary of the 10 strategic objectives:

1. Savings, Cost Efficiencies and Productivity Gains
2. Integrated and Collaborative Procurement
3. Improving Outcomes through Clinical Procurement Partnerships
4. Supply Chain Management and Efficiency
5. Procurement Leadership and Capability
6. Strengthening Procurement Governance
7. Data, Information and Transparency
8. Sustainable Procurement
9. Fair-trade and Ethical Purchasing
10. Corporate and Social Responsibility