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Supplies Website

Supplies Department

National honours for supplies' software
07 June 2005

The Supplies Information Management Team has been highly commended at a national awards event for their innovative purchasing and supplies system. The ‘Government Opportunities Excellence in Public Sector Procurement Awards' are an annual event to celebrate the success of individuals and teams who work in public procurement.

Staff from the Trust were honoured for their work in the category of ‘Greatest Procurement Contribution to the e-Government Agenda' through the creation of the ‘SPNet' programme.

The awards were presented by Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy at a ceremony which was the highlight of the National Public Procurement Practitioners' Day earlier this month.

Public procurement staff from across the country gathered at the annual event to share ideas and learning on public sector purchasing and spending.
Chris Slater, Head of Supplies, Graham Medwell, Information Manager, Paul Luxton, Information Analyst and Russel Danby, Contracts Administrator, made the trip to London on behalf of the Trust.

The SPNet system was developed by the team with help from Sybase and works by integrating e-procurement, management information and purchasing control functions.

It has been rolled out across the Trust and means staff now benefit from a simple and efficient electronic ordering system which also helps the Supplies team in their day to day work.

Chris Slater, Head of Supplies, said:

“The SPNet links up a number of existing operational systems via the web, making the whole supply process from order to payment easier for everyone involved. I am looking forward to its adoption Trustwide so that more staff can see the benefits too.

We are delighted to receive the highly commended award as it recognises that the Trust is at the forefront of supplies information management in the 21 st century.

The system is something that will benefit NHS Trusts across the country and we are hoping many others will follow our approach to new information technology.”

The commendation comes as further high-profile recognition for the team who were also visited earlier in the month by the Government's Chief Information Officer, Ian Whatmore. During a recent visit to West Yorkshire Ian visited a number of IT projects benefiting local healthcare including the Picture Archiving and Communications Systems (PACS) within the Radiology Department and observed the Trust's e-procurement programme. Staff showed him how SPNet works and gave a demonstration linking procurement to patient records in Radiology.

For more information or a picture from the awards ceremony, please contact

Amy Wardlaw
Communications Manager
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Trust HQ
St James's University Hospital
Beckett Street
Leeds LS9 7TF

Tel: 0113 2066494
Fax: 0113 2066482

For further information please contact:

graham.medwell@leedsth.nhs.uk 0113 3926699
Information Manager

To revisit the awards page, please click here