A group of NHS trusts have achieved potential savings of nearly 30% on their 2005 bill for IT hardware via an on-line auction.
In conjunction with Collaborative Procurement organisations, a two-hour e-auction, organised by the Office of Government Commerce’s (OGC) coordinated procurement division and run by TradingPartners saw 11 IT hardware suppliers battle to get the business of 137 NHS Trusts, grouped into six regional consortia. Between them, these consortia account for nearly a third of all the desktops and laptops needed by the NHS over the next 18 months.
The event was led and hosted by Hull and East Yorkshire NHS Trust which originated the idea, and co-ordinated by its procurement manager Malcolm Tell.
John Oughton, chief executive of the Office of Government Commerce, who viewed the auction, said: “This a great example of how the public sector can work together to achieve savings for the taxpayer that can be ploughed back into frontline services. OGC promotes the use of eAuctions in the public sector and we can provide guidance on how they can be used to help the public sector meet their efficiency targets.”
