bluewolf
Money List Winner
But whose choice would it be been to centralise NHS purchasing of items such as PPE? Would it have been an NHS decision, or would it have been a Government decision?
Coronavirus - how is it/has it affected you?
- Thread starter drdel
- Start date
Edit: A bit like the huge one at Normanton in West Yorks. Think there's one down near London too. They already exist. Edit: there's 7 of them dotted around the country.
bluewolf
Money List Winner
Yes, but bigger. Containing more. And not Trust specific. A national stockpile.
Old Skier
Tour Winner
Who knows but if they work like the MOD, there is no way the NHS or any gover Agency would give up control of any part of their empire. Jobs for the boys syndrome. You have just got to look at all the sub branches of the NHS that are coming to light.
They aren't Trust specific. Normanton is huge, and is part of NHS Supply Chain - I can't speak for the others as I've not visited them. You've probably passed their trucks numerous times without realising it.
bluewolf
Money List Winner
I’m sure there’ll be plenty of blame to go around once the dust settles. I’m just struggling to see how this was not catered for when it was highlighted 3.5 years ago.
bluewolf
Money List Winner
I know the site as I’ve friends in Normanton. You’re right. It’s huge. But something in the way it’s set up isn’t working. I don’t know what it is as I’m learning on the fly.
Amazing what a quick read will do. NHS Supply Chain is no longer majority owned by DHL. Would you believe it?!? The Tories took NHS Supply back into state ownership, April 2018, and have centralised management of the Supply Chain sites to the Dept of Health offices in London.
And how many times do we hear the Tories are looking to privatise the NHS?
bluewolf
Money List Winner
Well, that is both good and bad news. Good that it’s becoming more centralised and State owned. Bad in that it throws doubt back into the Governments handling of necessary supplies.
I’m flipping about more than my hands during a 20 yard chip shot here.
Old Skier
Tour Winner
You'd be surprised how many are actually full
Ye Olde Boomer
Well-known member
Hardly. I did my share of that in the 1960s.
BubbaP
Occasional Player of Golf
I did wonder if there was some uncertainty in defining 'recovered'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/healt...e-to-be-infected-with-covid-19-more-than-once
SocketRocket
Ryder Cup Winner
A mate of mine who was REME Major retired a few years ago but worked at Ashchurch for the last 10 years of his service, he said the depot had been fairly underused for years.
drdel
Tour Rookie
But just like the NHS Trusts the CO's were fiddling the priority codes and over ordering. This drove problem back to Germany, Brize, Bicester etc and logistics went into disarray for awhile. Same as PPE requisitions have too many cooks stirring the pot.,
But all the calls and instructions we, as couriers are getting nationwide, are not from a central source of the NHS and most definitely not from the government!
bluewolf
Money List Winner
But how likely is it that a government controlled, centralised hub would need couriers to move product? Surely they have trucks and drivers for that. Is it more likely that what you’re moving are the extra orders that the current logistics network can’t cope with?
We have now put out our last box of gowns. That's it. Technicians checking with central stores at the hospital but doubting there are any there either as they are usually distributed out on arrival. Not sure where that leaves our staff today as patient numbers over the weekend have again increased and seem to be bucking trends
The majority of supplies across all goods required by pharmacies and hospitals alike, tend to come through AAH, who are in the main, a national (Independent) wholesaler. You'll see these vehicles countrywide, plodding around local areas dropping off an array of daily supplies constantly being ordered (daily) direct from trusts and pharmacies on a daily basis.
Like any wholesaler they will hold stock based on their trends of output at specific times of the year along with growth trends etc.
As wholesalers, and like in other markets, there's more than them, Phoenix, Alliance and more..., but they are the big boys to some degree, they order in from all over the world based on costs, availability and compliance of the products, like any company, but they are in the main, a medical/healthcare distribution company and operate a hub & spoke operation across the country, so, with the pandemic starting in other countries weeks/months before us, the wholesalers or however those countries operate, would be already draining supplies from the same manufacturers across the world, so we have been last to the table, and as such, I doubt full orders have been received by the likes of AAH and others as manufacturers of the goods, even in this country, would be under the same kind of constraints that we have seen, with reduced workforces or even some closure's!
My wife is a manager at a pharmacy so I'm fully aware of how the system normally and is still working to some degree and how they're still ordering, and like you rightly state, some trusts and pharmacies are going out of the normal chains to keep a flow of supplies to meet their needs, or fill in the gaps or shortfalls of goods that turn up, without being pre-advised, as the amounts they are receiving are not what they're ordering, so they double up on ordering, hence why were seeing excess stock piles in some places, possibly more down to ordering in from various sources and then arriving all at once!
Some pharmacies and trusts/hospitals have had a direct delivery from the NHS, but this is totally new and not been known before, where gloves, masks and aprons just turned up, without ordering or going through head offices or any manner of normal ordering processes. Trying to find out where these originated from though, is like looking for the holy grail!
Slab
Occasional Tour Caddy
Hope its resupplied soon. If you don’t mind me asking (& I’m sure its already been addressed) but I know you work in a key sector but are you (& others like you) a key worker for the full 5 days a week?
I don’t know exactly what you do but IIRC its admin or resource based role meaning you’d still need ppe gear by being on location
Are they not able to release you for a couple of days each week to work from home, lessening the load on supplies and making it better/safer for you too?
I was originally employed as the admin manager but no co-opted into doing things like staff rostering including all our agency nurses and those from other parts of the trust. Can't do this at home as the rostering system is a clanky old stand-alone piece of kit. Getting involved in a lot of planning stuff as a facilitator (minutes) for the escalation as it was, the peak (not sure we've seen it) and then what happens next. As I have a background in recruitment and medical recruitment I have also been working with those teams and our NHSP (NHS Professionals) team to fast track ID, health checks and DBS clearance for staff so they are able to work fully on the unit with sufficient clearance
I am also a fully trained HCA and so have been doing the odd bit of work on the unit when we've had our limited HCA's on days off or self-isolating. On those days I was/am PPE but on the admin side of things as I am not anywhere near bedspaces or withing 2m of any aerosol generating equipment, I am deemed safe in gloves and an FFP3 mask to attend to issues in the Covid based areas. We have sufficient gloves and as I am usually in infected areas for short periods of time, I am able to use the FFP3 mask throughout the shift so not really using too much in the way of stock.
I am also line managing the ward clerks who have been deemed key to take the incoming calls/'queries usually from relatives (or internal sources like bed management, pharmacy, labs). I am currently working 5 days a week usually from 7.00am-3.00pm so I am available at handover to deal with any issues. Those hours haven't been adhered to and have been more like 6.15-6.30 until 4.30-5.00 so longer than I'd like. HCA shifts are normal nursing shifts so usually 7.15am until 8.00pm