Arden & GEM and NHS England Highly Specialised Commissioning have been named winners of the Health Care Supply Association (HCSA) Cross Functional Collaboration Award 2020.
The virtual conference and awards ceremony, which took place on Wednesday 18 November, celebrated procurement and supply chain excellence, best practice and achievement in health service provision.
The partnership between Arden & GEM’s procurement team and the NHS England Highly Specialised Commissioning team was successful in the Cross Functional Collaboration Award category for a project to transform the lives of babies with spina bifida through pioneering prenatal surgery.
Thanks to strong leadership and excellent collaboration – bringing together patient representatives, clinicians, commissioners, subject matter, and international experts – the project successfully appointed two specialist centres to provide high quality surgery to women carrying a foetus with open spina bifida. The service has delivered 15 surgeries between November 2019 and October 2020 to women in England and Northern Ireland, with a transformative impact on quality of life for babies and their families.
“We are very proud that our partnership has been recognised by the HCSA awards. Taking a multidisciplinary approach to procurement projects is key to delivering successful, high-quality, patient-centred services. In this case, a ground-breaking intervention which makes a life-changing difference for women and their babies.”
Collette Palmer, Associate Director of Procurement for Specialised Commissioning at NHS Arden & GEM
Read more about this innovative collaborative project in this case study.
The partners were also Highly Commended in the Procurement Excellence category for a project to improve quality of life for adults with chronic pancreatitis. By taking a holistic approach to procurement, with meticulous planning and regular and open communication, a service was successfully awarded to four centres to provide specialist treatment to remove the pancreas and transplant back the cells that produce insulin.
“This is a truly life-changing procedure for patients. The feedback from patients has been that they have gone from having the worst pain imaginable to little or no pain at all. I am very proud that the partnership between NHS England and NHS Arden & GEM CSU, that delivered this successful outcome, has been recognised by HCSA.”
Fiona Marley, Head of Highly Specialised Commissioning at NHS England
You can view a full list of the winners here.