#ExpertiseMatters: Procurement Development Programme
Equipping our team with the knowledge and training they need to perform their roles to the best of their ability is hugely important.
HCSA’s Procurement Development Programme is the only residential professional development course solely delivered for NHS staff and has been developed for procurement professionals within the NHS. The course is designed to help those who attend get the best from procurement and supplier management processes.
Our Business Performance Specialist Alexandra Smith recently attended the residential at Eastwood Hall in Nottingham and sat down with us to share her experience.
I was recommended to sign up for the course by my manager who had attended the April residential, and she spoke very highly of it, and had also chatted to other people within our team who had attended and said how much of a good week it was and how helpful it was in terms of networking. The fact the event is solely for NHS employees was quite unique compared to other events I have attended.
We were assigned into groups on the first day which meant we were mixed up with different people who we hadn’t met before to get to know one another and network. All of the people in my group were in trust procurement teams, and it was interesting to get to know their real-life experience in varying roles within trust procurement and what they do on a daily basis.
There were some great sessions over the course of the week, and a couple in particular really stood out. We had a session on the first day of the course about insights with Joe Wainwright from Stratagem, we had filled out an insights questionnaire prior to the course starting and I found it really useful in terms of seeing in detail how I like to work. I think this will be a great tool for me to use going forward so I can identify how to collaborate best with different people within the organisation.
The session I really enjoyed was the half-day session on Introduction to Procurement Law and Contracting with Andrew Daly from Hempsons, he was knowledgeable and interesting, and I think everyone who attended took a lot away from his session. I personally found the negotiation training delivered by Alan Hoskins and Cath Griffiths from HCSA particularly useful to have that understanding of how to approach situations and what will help to get a better outcome.
Another session that really connected with my role was Social Value and Commercial Impact delivered by Alan Wain. I took a lot of information away from his presentation as we are trying to drive more social value reporting into both our CMSP reporting and then look at how we can build it into contracts in the tender process.
Overall, it was an excellent and highly rewarding week, where I not only gained a wealth of valuable learning resources and skills but also had the opportunity to engage with and learn from seasoned professionals in the field. The experience provided both practical insights and meaningful connections that will be instrumental in my personal development and applying to my role in the team.
For more information about HCSA and the Procurement Development Programme, visit their website.