Lord Hunt of King's Heath, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health, visited the Trust at the end of July to see the first e-Commerce system operating in the NHS.

The Minister also had the chance to look at the Trust's technology systems used for managing supplies.

The visit began at the Accident and Emergency Department at St. James's University Hospital, where new technology is freeing nurses from administrative chores yet ensuring all necessary items needed by the A&E Department are kept in stock, based on an analysis of demand.

Goods are ordered by staff from the Trust's Supplies Department who utilise modern handheld computers to read bar coded information. Nursing staff are freed from all associated administration and can concentrate on delivering patient care.

The Minister also visited the Cardiac Catheter Labs in the Jubilee Building at Leeds General Infirmary. The department has the latest cardiology suite in cardiac procedures such as angioplasty, arterial stenting and the fitting of pacemakers.

The department spends £25,000 each day on supplies; expenditure which requires efficient and effective management systems. A computerised inventory management system has been introduced which operates along similar lines to systems available in major supermarkets.

As goods are used, they are passed in front of a bar code scanner and the stock is adjusted accordingly. From this point, the system is totally paperless and orders are scheduled and then encrypted and sent via the internet, directly to the many suppliers necessary to support the Catheter Labs.

Orders are posted directly into the suppliers' system and order acknowledgments are posted back into the Trust's IT system. The whole operation takes about an hour.

The Trust has been operating this e-Commerce system since early February and has not had any order queries since its introduction. As e-Commerce is implemented throughout the Trust, it is anticipated that the system will deliver significant benefits by reducing costs throughout the purchasing process.

Keith Lilley, Head of Supplies, said: "We are delighted that Lord Hunt took time to visit the Supplies Department to see these new technologies in action. Purchasing within the Trust has been successful over the last three years in delivering over £7.5 million of cash releasing savings as well as over £20 million cost avoidance savings.

"Our new systems are designed to capitalise on this success, made possible by the efforts of all Supplies staff working as an effective team. I am confident that the Minister was impressed by cutting edge systems which have great potential for use throughout the NHS."