NHS Arden & GEM CSU has been successful in the ‘Team of the Year – Health’ category at this year’s UK National GO Awards which recognise outstanding achievement and innovation in public procurement.
The highly anticipated UK National Go Awards ceremony took place in an innovative online format on Friday 17 July. The CSU’s procurement team was named team of the year for health, one of the most competitive categories of the awards, with 10 organisations shortlisted.
As a strategic partner and critical friend to more than 25 health and care commissioners, Arden & GEM’s procurement team supports clinical procurements, transactional procurements and collaborative contracting to deliver financial benefits for the system while improving outcomes for patients.
The team has developed an innovative seven step procurement process which has been successfully tailored to deliver a number of complex projects including:
- An Auditory Brain Implantation service to enable nine profoundly deaf children per year to undergo life-changing surgery to allow them to hear
- A West Midlands ‘Thrive into Work’ programme which will support 1,000 people with mental and/or physical health issues into employment
- A Proton Beam Therapy service for NHS cancer patients which has enabled an additional 25 patients to access treatment while saving over £3m
- A Non-Emergency Patient Transport service for the six Nottinghamshire and Bassetlaw CCGs which resulted in an improved service.
Over the past two years, the team has successfully facilitated £142.5m in savings for its clients, achieved a 5-6% efficiency factor and receives above average customer satisfaction scores.
“Sustainable and effective approaches to procurement are vital in meeting the current challenges in the healthcare sector and delivering efficient, high quality services.
I am delighted that our team has been recognised by the GO Awards for the key role we play in procuring life-changing services for patients while facilitating significant savings for health and care systems. This achievement recognises both the expertise of the service and the collaborative relationships we develop with our clients.”
Warren Simms, Procurement Director at Arden & GEM
In addition to the ‘Team of the Year’ accolade, Arden & GEM was also ‘Highly Commended’ in the Social Value Category, for an out of hospital community services project with NHS Nottingham CCG, which saw improvements in service integration, significant cost savings and a commitment to social value achieved.
The full list of winners from the event is available here.