NHS: Procurement

The Department is developing Value Based Procurement Standard Guidance to improve the National Health Service’s consistency in the procurement of medical technology in England, shifting the focus from buying the cheapest to considering wider factors to ensure that taxpayer money delivers better outcomes for patients, staff, and the environment.

Procurement decisions will be based on a minimum of 60% weighting from five value domains, including the mandated minimum 10% on Social Value. The remaining 40% is a maximum weighting for Whole Life Cost. The guidance includes the choice of 21 questions across the five value domains. For example, where improvement to hospital productivity is assessed, real world evidence on the impact to the length of stay, procedure time, and/or readmission rates will be required.

The following 13 NHS trusts, covered by nine procurement teams, are piloting the guidance before national rollout across the NHS in England in early 2026:

• the Birmingham and Solihull Procurement Collaborative, which itself comprises of the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust; the Birmingham Women's and Children's NHS Foundation Trust; the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust; the Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust; and the Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust;
• the Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust;
• the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust;
• the North Bristol NHS Trust;
• the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;
• the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;
• the South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust;
• the St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; and
• the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.