How an NHS trust achieved 13.5% savings and improved service delivery

By Robin Couedel

An NHS Trust partnered with Efficio with the goal of improving commercial value and operational performance across four Facilities Management procurements. Together, the client-Efficio team achieved 13.5% savings while improving the commercial and operational models underpinning these core services.

The NHS Trust was preparing to renew four Facilities Management contracts across its Estates and Facilities function, but faced a number of thorny issues. Several services had been delivered under long-standing arrangements, with rates that had remained largely unchallenged. In addition, existing planned preventative maintenance and reactive maintenance models did not provide the cost certainty, workforce alignment, or coverage that the Trust needed. The structure of some services also created inefficiencies: reliance on subcontractors or bundled services impacted accountability and efficiency.

The Trust therefore wanted to use the procurements to improve commercial value and ensure its services were structured to provide greater cost certainty, appropriate workforce capacity, and the operational coverage required. Initial savings targets across the four procurements ranged from 4% to 7%.

The opportunity extended beyond testing incumbent pricing.

Efficio reviewed the existing commercial and operating models underpinning each service to understand where changes could improve value and better support the Trust’s longer-term requirements. Operating models were redesigned where appropriate, matching workforce capacity more closely to planned service requirements and establishing clearer, fit-for-purpose service arrangements for specialist requirements to improve performance and efficiency.

Efficio partnered with the Trust through the end-to-end procurement process, from route-to-market and tender documentation through to supplier clarification, evaluation, and results communication. Rather than simply retendering existing arrangements, Efficio brought a broader commercial and operational perspective to the procurements, working with the Trust to challenge established commercial arrangements while also considering how each service should operate in the future.