We become first mental health Trust in Yorkshire to achieve procurement standard

We have been awarded the NHS Standards of Procurement – Level 1 status, making us one of only nine mental health and community Trusts within the NHS to achieve the standard.

The NHS Standards of Procurement – Level 1 is a requirement mentioned in the recently published Lord Carter report which says that all mental health and community Trust procurement departments within the NHS should achieve this standard by April 2019.

The standards help NHS healthcare provider organisations to assess and benchmark procurement performance and identify areas for improvements.

Nearly six months ahead of schedule, we are the first mental health Trust in Yorkshire to achieve the recognition.

Tony Cooper, head of procurement, said: “The standard involves providing many pieces of documentary evidence which support the fact that the procurement department are operating at an agreed quality level. It covers seventy individual criteria headings set against six main headings, including things such as strategic procurement and policies and procedures. This is quite an achievement by the procurement team and being awarded the standard is recognition of everyone’s hard work.”