NHS Equipment Stocks

An hysterical cartoon in the Times today shows an angry mob of health workers, dressed in protective equipment, pursuing a fleeing Health Secretary. Mr Hancock is saying, “looks like I’ll have to get some PPE myself.” Side-splitting humour but have the workers identified the right target for their anger? A Google of “responsibility for NHS procurement,” reveals an interesting labyrinth of documentation, much of it beautifully crafted in fluent business speak. There is a very helpful document titled “NHS Procurement: Key Terminology (prepared by Procurement, Investment & Commercial Division). Thinking of reported  shortages  of essential equipment, I see  that “Inventory Management,” which probably sums up the present press furore, is “primarily about determining and controlling stock levels to balance the need of availability against the need for minimising stock holding and handling costs. The scope of inventory management is concerned with optimising: replenishment lead time, carrying costs of inventory, asset management, inventory forecasting, inventory valuation, inventory visibility, available physical space for inventory, replenishment, and managing returns. Balancing these competing requirements leads to optimal inventory levels, which is an on-going process as business needs change in response to the wider environment.”  All very laudable and responsible, so far, but when we reach the principle of “Lean” we see the bean counters getting their feet under the table. “Lean,” we learn, is a practice that considers the expenditure of resources for any goal other than the creation of value for the end customer to be wasteful, and thus a target for elimination. Again, all very laudable and responsible until, that is, we put the concepts of inventory management and lean together. The cost benefit of “optimal inventory levels" and” wasteful expenditure” in the context of pandemic contingency planning would have been a tricky decision for NHS management but that is why we pay good salaries to civil servants. It is quite right that the press championing taxpayers and concerned citizens should ask questions.  However, rather than go for the low hanging political fruit, as one might say, why don’t we invite  the senior  officials responsible  for the decisions at the time to come out of index linked retirement for a few moments limelight to explain their risk assessment?