Small and medium-sized enterprises are being encouraged to meet public sector demand using a new marketplace for providers of health and social care.
Aiming to provide consumers with greater access to companies which provide health and social care services, NHS Digital and Crown Commercial Service have designed a new Dynamic Purchasing System or DPS.
Utilising the DPS, the Health and Social Care Network (HSCN) aims to improve communication between healthcare professionals and provide a more efficient service for citizens; it will replace the previous N3 or New National Network.
Whilst suppliers must be HSCN Stage 1 compliant to offer services via the DPS, the applications process removes the more complex and time-consuming aspects, reducing resource and cost.
Once they have become a member, suppliers will be able to bid to deliver their respective service to organisations across the UK.
Commenting on the new networks was Programme Director of HSCN, Dermot Ryan. He stated: “Creating a competitive market for network services in health and social care, to drive both product innovation and value for money, has been an ambition of the HSCN programme since the outset. Working in partnership with Crown Commercial Service, the establishment of the HSCN dynamic purchasing system is a significant part of realising this ambition. The DPS will promote the formation of a thriving market in HSCN services and provide health and social care customers with an easy to use, low-risk way of procuring compliant services.”
More information on the HSCN can be found here.
