Kevin Chidlow: Working alongside NHS Supply Chain for 5 years #CollaborationMatters
Collaboration is at the heart of everything NOE CPC does. We strive to share skills, knowledge, expertise, and resources across the community, to help remove duplication, reduce costs, and improve output.
NOE CPC is the Category Tower Service Provider for NHS Supply Chain: Hotel Services and we have been working alongside others in NHS Supply Chain for nearly 5 years. With this month’s focus on #CollaborationMatters, we interviewed Kevin Chidlow, Category Tower Director for Hotel Services, to get his thoughts on collaboration as part of the NHS Supply Chain.
Here is what Kevin had to say: “When I reflect on the last 5 years of our contract with NHS Supply Chain, what stands out to me most is the pride the whole team shares in being part of the NHS, and on a personal level the enjoyment I get from working with such a fantastic team of people.
“During the pandemic in 2020, our whole team, our colleagues across NHS Supply Chain, and the entire NHS and public sector worked together to ensure the delivery of essential resources to protect patients and frontline staff. Working cooperatively with trusts and suppliers during this time highlighted that we can accomplish great things when we work together as one. Taking a step back to appreciate all the contributions truly illustrated to me just how much collaboration matters.
“One of our biggest achievements as a team is the culture we’ve nurtured and evolved over time. Everyone on the team shares the same goal of wanting to deliver the best service for the NHS. Our team dynamic works well and everyone is encouraged to bring their own ideas and opinions, which are listened to and acted upon where possible.
“As a team, we have gone on to exceed our contractual targets and have been able to achieve more than we anticipated when we first began. We have built on and developed our relationships with colleagues across NHS Supply Chain which have allowed us to trust one another; having respect and confidence in each other’s abilities. We are all part of the NHS family, we share the same ethos, and our shared values are integrated into everything that we do. Collaboration doesn’t mean everybody agreeing to do exactly what you want, it’s about working to achieve an agreeable consensus and working towards the bigger picture, to achieve shared goals.
“For example, we are currently working on the National Healthcare Uniforms project, which continues to demonstrate just how to import it is to work in partnership. There are challenging aspects of working on national projects and this is certainly no exception, but we have been working alongside so many individuals and organisations that have a crucial role in the process, from garment pre-production to testing the uniforms in a healthcare environment, this project is the pinnacle of collaboration.
“We have had input from clinical professionals, procurement specialists working locally in trusts, senior professional representatives, professional bodies, suppliers, and clothing industry experts and without involvement from every one of them, this project simply wouldn’t happen. We still have work ongoing such as finalising the design and colour scheme, final supplier selection, and most importantly continued engagement with all those mentioned previously.
“We are always looking to the future to understand the market and because of this, we will need to continue working as a unit to tackle upcoming challenges with innovative and, if necessary, radical solutions. We know looking to the immediate future that we are moving into a period of financial uncertainty for many, so we must ensure we are continuing to deliver cost-effective solutions and progress with developing the delivery of sustainable products.”
Continued support and collaboration across the NHS is vital as we all work towards our shared values and objectives. NOE CPC has confidence that we can continue to work together to deliver and not only survive the challenges but thrive in delivering long-term and maintainable solutions for both today and the future.
As well as The National Healthcare Uniform, we have also delivered the below projects in collaboration with NHS Supply Chain: Hotel Services look at these resources to find out more:
National Ambulance Uniform and General Workwear
- Watch the new customer feedback video for https://youtu.be/a0XN0EKiwMs
- Take a look at what is included in the range https://www.supplychain.nhs.uk/categories/hotel-services/national-ambulance-uniforms-buying-guide/
Single-Use Plastics
- See what alternatives are available in our brochure https://media-nhssc.azureedge.net/datashare/SustainableAlternativesBrochure_Catering-4-July-2022.pdf
- Look out for further updates on the NHS Supply Chain https://www.supplychain.nhs.uk/sustainability/