Supporting the Procurement and Logistics Advisory Cell

The AHSN NENC has been working directly with the Procurement and Logistics Advisory Cell (PAC) during the COVID-19 pandemic to capture offers of support to the NHS, applying due diligence to ensure they meet requirements and to identify trends in pressure areas, sourcing potential alternative suppliers where there are shortages in supply.

What is the Procurement and Logistics Advisory Cell (PAC)?

The Procurement and Logistics Advisory Cell (PAC) is one of ten cells in the North East and Yorkshire region set up by NHS England and NHS Improvement to support the national response to tackle the spread of COVID-19. The PAC uses national guidance to support NHS organisations working with social care and independent healthcare provider care for patients, staff and our population.

Offers from Support

There has been a tremendous offer of support to the NHS from local businesses and universities across the region in the fight against COVID-19. The AHSN NENC has supported the PAC to manage the flow of support by logging these offers, understanding the offer and assisting in undertaking some due diligence to ensure that it meets the requirements of the NHS, especially in areas that need specific regulation.

The AHSN NENC continues to capture technologies that are ready for use and/or could be scaled to assist the NHS in the fight against COVID-19.

If you have any ready to use innovations please complete the form at https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/SME-Response-COVID19/. Alternatively email [email protected].

Horizon Scanning

In a pandemic the situation changes so frequently that it is very difficult to predict what the requirements are going to be on a daily basis. Therefore it has been important to assess the potential need for solutions before they expire.

The AHSN NENC has been working with the PAC to identify trends in pressure areas and look for potential alternative suppliers where there are shortages in supply.

In some situations, it has been possible to identify direct links with companies who have already offered support. Where this has not been possible the AHSN NENC has worked with partners to create a process of going out to to business and academia to assess the ability to find alternative supply. In particular the AHSN NENC has worked with the Innovation Super Network and the Local Enterprise Partnership to find support in areas such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

More recently, the AHSN NENC has created joint processes with Yorkshire & Humber AHSN to ensure region wide coverage and the ability to respond more proactively with the demands and offers coming in from the whole North East and North Cumbria and Yorkshire & Humber region. This ability to find alternative suppliers has resulted in the AHSN NENC creating a database of suppliers which has been provided to the procurement teams across the NHS and Social Care. It is hoped that this will allow for self-sufficiency given the importance to move away from reactive to proactive supply.