NHS Property Services has saved £250 million for NHS in the last five years – (c) NHS Property Services
NHS Property Services has claimed to have saved the National Health Service (NHS) £250 million over the last five years, the result of a cost transformation programme involving more than 2,000 initiatives that was launched in 2017.
The savings – to be reinvested in the NHS to tackle cost challenges associated with Covid-19, an ageing population, and a backlog of more than six million patients waiting for elective care – could equate to funding the creation of 68 new GP surgeries or pay the annual salaries of around 3,200 GPs, the organisation claims.
Mark Smith, chief finance officer at NHSPS, said: “We established the cost transformation programme at NHSPS in 2017 to drive, monitor and report on the progress of our savings targets by tracking and reporting on more than 2,000 lines of activity, including everything from introducing strategic in-sourcing to reducing waste collections.
“I’m pleased to announce that over the last five years, the programme has enabled us to exceed our ambitious target of £176 million, delivering a total of £250 million cost savings to our NHS partners and customers. This is a fantastic achievement, and the result of true successful collaboration and renewed focus right across our organisation which has enabled us to keep costs to our colleagues in the NHS broadly flat, offsetting some of the inflationary pressures.”
NHSPS’ financial teams will evolve the programme by taking 'a more holistic view' of the value it can provide to customers through sustainability (read more about the Green Plan) and increased efficiencies and income generation.