The coalition government was swift to announce that the NHS budget would be ring fenced. Despite the fact that there is no increase in budget, the government was keen to put a positive spin on it, stating that the NHS budget would increase in real terms. Could the fact that NHS budgets have been protected lead to complacency within the NHS procurement community while other government departments are cutting costs relatively drastically?
Clearly there is a need for procurement professionals to maintain the momentum behind finding efficiencies.
Since the keys to No. 10 Downing Street have changed hands the Department of Health (DoH) has changed its structure, giving more ownership and responsibility locally. Added to this is the recent announcement that GPs are to take control of the NHS budget in a bid to cut management costs, which will result in the loss of around 25,000 jobs. To what extent will this devolvement of structure in the NHS make it more difficult to control costs and get different consortia to collaborate in their procurement of products and services?
It is widely acknowledged that there is still a relatively large amount of wastage in the NHS which, independently of any change in structure or budgetary control, needs to be rectified. The excess bird flu vaccination is a case in point. Inefficiencies such as this could lead to animosity between government departments. If one department is being asked to cut costs by as much as 40% and they see so much wastage in the NHS, it could be viewed as reasonable for them to ask why they need to cut so much when there is so much inefficiency in other departments.
Clearly there is a need for procurement professionals to maintain the momentum behind finding efficiencies. We anticipate there being a temporary pause in recruitment professionals in the NHS, whether permanent or contractor, until such time as there is more clarity around the new structure. We anticipate that this might come in or after October this year.
The NHS has always been seen as a popular and attractive place to work for interim procurement professionals and we do not expect that competition for vacancies will drop off in light of these structural changes. The NHS is very particular about the candidates that apply for their vacancies – experience in the NHS is usually essential.
Once there is more clarity over NHS structure and demand for procurement professionals picks up, competition for roles is expected to be fierce. It will be harder for candidates to make themselves stand out. Hiring managers will find it increasingly challenging to identify the best talent on the market with the right level of commercial skills to make the most of the new structure and help drive efficiencies to run in parallel with cuts in other government departments.
