Making it easier for you to buy the right products and services

There is a critical need to modernise telephony systems in primary care to ensure capacity, robustness, resilience and ultimately improved access to general practice for patients. Telephony systems with advanced features are essential to help practices manage high and peak demands, support resilience and flexible working, and improve patient experience.

A national approach to enable GP practices to procure a solution is time critical. To support this, the Better Purchasing Framework for Advanced Cloud-based Telephony has been developed. This enables practices to purchase from a list of suppliers who have been through early assurance with the added benefit of a wrap-around support offer from the NHS England National Commercial and Procurement Hub.

The Better Purchasing framework will remain in place until such times as a successor framework becomes available under the NHS England Digital Services for Integrated Care catalogue of frameworks.

The benefits of buying from the Better Purchasing Framework are significant, including:

Making it easier to buy

• demonstration videos and brochures to help you find the right product
• ability to direct award to your chosen supplier (under a certain financial threshold)
• comprehensive support from the Hub at every stage of the process, from exploring your needs through to managing and maintaining effective relationships with your chosen supplier

Increase confidence

• a choice of solutions that comply with the Digital Care Services Catalogue Agreement
• easier transition to the incoming Cloud Telephony Framework through pre-agreed contract novation processes for qualifying suppliers
• you will be purchasing from suppliers who have committed to meeting the expectations and behaviours defined within the Commercial Standard
• should you find, in the future, that the product or supplier is no longer meeting your needs, the framework makes it easier to address issues, and should you need to, change suppliers

Provide better value for money

• using the collective buying power of the NHS to negotiate lower product costs on behalf of general practice
• support from the Hub when negotiating exit costs from current solution providers
• reducing time and effort by making purchasing the right solution as straightforward as possible through specialist support and advice and simplified procurement processes

The Better Purchasing Framework has been constructed to give significant emphasis to ensuring practices have access to a comprehensive, wrap-around, specialist commercial and procurement advice and support offer.

The NHS England National Commercial and Procurement Hub will provide practices with support, information, advice and guidance at each step of the way, from understanding the requirements through to purchasing the right solution and managing and maintaining good relationships with their chosen supplier. The Hub offer extends well beyond the steps required to establishing your advanced telephony contract:

The Hub can help you complete the things you need to do using our range of tried and tested tools and techniques, templates and resources (including video guides).

The Hub will provide practices with further information in the form of easy-to-digest briefing sheets describing:

• more about the Better Purchasing Framework (BPF)
• the benefits of advanced telephony, and using the BPF

Your Hub lead will work closely with your designated local lead to ensure you are making good progress against your local plan. This will include working with you to ensure your plan contains all of the actions and outputs that will ensure the right solution to meet your needs whilst achieving value for money.

Through its work at both national level and supporting specific projects within ICB regions, the Hub is continuously gathering insight and intelligence into the market. This includes:

• intelligence and descriptions of the standards and capabilities each supplier meets
• market changes
• information about supplier products and developments
• supplier market share
• supplier experiences of working with the NHS
• what is interesting and exciting to suppliers, and what they are finding challenging 

The Hub can also act on your behalf to investigate and resolve issues with supplier and support any exit negotiations. If you are experiencing a contractual performance issue and need help resolving this with your supplier or want advice on how to exit a contract.

There may be times when you need more support, for example: you may be considering a change such as consolidation of systems within a PCN. Whatever the circumstance, the Hub is on hand to offer expert advice, guidance and support.