How NOE CPC integrates with Integrated Care Systems (ICSs)
Our focus for May is #IntegrationMatters. Keith Rowley, Managing Director, shares insights on how NOE CPC is integrating with Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) and adapting to this evolving landscape.
“NOE CPC (North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative) can play a pivotal role in supporting and working with ICSs. Over the past few years, we have evolved and adapted our service to work with both individual trusts and ICSs. This approach recognises that every NHS organisation has its own unique requirements and procurement needs, but there is also a significant collective opportunity – and obligation – to work together effectively and efficiently across the ICS health economy. Our host trust, Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (LYPFT) is part of the West Yorkshire and Health and Care Partnership ICS. This means NOE CPC is part of that ICS, and our role is to support the ICS, but also to continue to meet the needs of the individual NHS organisations who form part of the West Yorkshire health system. In addition, as an externally facing NHS service provider, our role extends well beyond the boundaries of our home geography and we work extensively across many ICS areas in the North and Midlands in support of our member NHS organisations.
"When it comes to the development of procurement within an ICS, we recognise that ICSs are on different journeys, and at a different pace, with some moving towards shared service operations, while others focus on federated or collaborative models. NOE CPC remains flexible to support these diverse needs, ensuring we deliver to individual trusts and help them achieve their goals, whilst also supporting at the system level, or even in subgroups of providers, acute trusts, or mental health and community trusts.
"We have adapted our work methods to meet the varying needs of organisations within the ICS model, especially in procurement and supply. Our focus, at times, is on delivering effectively at the local trust level and helping trusts collaborate within the ICS model and execute collaborative work plans. This often involves not just our procurement category teams, but also our customer services and data and tech services, teams. These later teams help with identifying activity-appropriate activity, whilst our category teams can support with category strategies and collaborative execution within the ICS, or Trust, aiming to unlock savings and efficiencies.
"Our Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) team plays an active role in ICS meetings, ensuring our integration into planning and decision-making processes. This proactive engagement allows us to contribute valuable ideas to the ICS agenda, but also ensure they meet the priorities, capacity, and needs of the ICS and trusts. Additionally, our Supplier Relationship Managers (SRMs) keep suppliers informed about developments and opportunities, manage market dynamics, and ensure suppliers are best placed to respond to meet the needs of ICSs. All this helps collaboration which, managing market conditions, and ensuring that procurement activities positively impact care pathways, social value, sustainability, and financial goals.
"Beyond individual ICSs, NOE CPC promotes and enables inter-regional collaboration across ICSs when appropriate, to deliver value on a larger scale, either on the national stage or across regions including Yorkshire, Humber, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicester, the North East, and Manchester, maximizing the benefits of shared procurement activities.
"As ICSs evolve, so do their procurement needs. NOE CPC is committed to staying flexible and responsive, adapting our services to meet each ICS's requirements, whilst not forgetting the need to deliver at the local Trust level. Last year, we invested in understanding our member's and ICB's needs to help evolve the services we deliver. What we learned is that each ICS had unique needs. By staying adaptable and flexible, we can leverage and tailor our approach to match each ICS's maturity and journey, ensuring we continue to deliver collaborative benefits at the Trust or ICS level.
"By listening to and understanding our customers' and ICSs' needs, we mapped out necessary improvements, and we will continue to revisit this as the journey of integration continues.
"National policy is encouraging a move towards shared services and at-scale procurement. While not all ICSs fully adopt this model today, there is a clear trend towards increased collaboration and shared services. Over the next five years, we anticipate a growing emphasis on these models, driven by the need for financial efficiency and improved care delivery.
"Integrating with ICSs presents both challenges and opportunities. By embracing flexibility, collaboration, and engaging actively with the ICS agenda, NOE CPC is well-positioned to support the evolving needs of NHS organisations within these systems. Our commitment to delivering value, managing markets effectively, and supporting inter-regional collaboration will remain focused on being a supportive and value-adding partner in the journey towards integrated and efficient healthcare delivery.”