By coordinating complex procurements across multiple geographies and service needs, the Hub ensured continuity of essential services and managed commercial and legal risk effectively across contracts worth over £100 million.
Having initially supported Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH) and Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (RPH) with contracts awarded in 2022, the Estates, Digital and Transport team at the NHS Collaborative Procurement Hub has now helped 10 more trusts, value-for-money linen and laundry services as legacy contracts reached expiry.
Background
Linen and laundry services are critical to safe patient care and day-to-day hospital operations. Across the East of England, a number of NHS trusts were approaching the end of long-standing linen and laundry contracts, with all available contract extensions fully utilised.
The hospitals involved were thirteen Hub members, grouped into 4 separate procurements:
- CUH and RPH
- Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust (MSE) and Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT),
- Bedford Hospital, Luton Luton Luton & Dunstable University Hospital (L&D) and Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (MKUH),
- East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (WSH), James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (JP), Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust (NCHC), Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) and Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH).
Given the scale, cost and operational importance of linen and laundry services, the trusts needed a compliant route to market that maintained service continuity and delivered value for money.
The challenge
Each of the four cohorts outlined above had distinct local requirements, estate configurations and service models. The four procurements were complex and varied. In some cohorts, contracts were ending at different times, in other cases – services covered multiple sites, and with ESNEFT, WSH, JP, NCHC, NSFT and NNUH the procurement involved 6 trusts within a single process.
As linen and laundry has a history of legal challenge across the NHS, the risks involved in the project were operational, financial and reputational. Any disruption to services could have had a direct impact on infection control, patient safety and the hospitals’ ability to utilise all available bedspace.
The trusts needed assurance that procurements would be robust, transparent and legally compliant, while remaining proportionate and manageable.
The action
The Hub supported the trusts using established compliant routes to market, including the NOE CPC Laundry and Linen Services Total Solutions framework and the London Procurement Partnership (LPP) Linen and Laundry Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS).
Across the category, the Hub provided end-to-end procurement support, including:
- project planning and coordinating timelines across multiple trusts
- development of clear, robust service specifications
- adherence to TUPE regulations
- design of award criteria, KPIs and service credits
- evaluation panel selection, training and moderation
- commercial and legal guidance
- structured record keeping and audit trails
In several procurements, the approach allowed for multi-lot or multi-provider outcomes, with joint technical evaluations and separate commercial submissions where appropriate.
MKUH would like to express its sincere appreciation to the Hub for their professionalism and collaborative approach throughout this joint procurement. Linen and laundry services have faced legal challenge across the NHS, meaning the programme carried considerable operational, financial and reputational risk. The combined effort, expertise and commitment of all partners were essential in achieving a strong and secure outcome for all involved.
– Lisa Johnston, Head of Procurement, MKUH
The results
The procurements delivered assurance, stability and resilience for trusts across the East of England with compliant long-term managed service contracts awarded across all thirteen trusts.
The outcomes support NHS priorities around patient safety, operational resilience and sustainability. In the example of Bedford Hospital, L&D and MKUH, the award of a single provider across three hospitals created efficiencies through system-wide consistency. Additional impact was achieved through:
- improved service specifications, strengthened SLAs and clearer KPIs
- continuity of essential services through an effective and smooth mobilisation of contracts
- issues identified early and resolved through structured clarification
- the running of a robust and compliant legal procurement process, saving the trusts significant time and potential legal costs
- contracts which provide operational flexibility for additional service elements, enabling trusts to adapt services as their needs evolve.
MSE is extremely grateful to the Hub for their level of commitment and expertise offered throughout this collaborative, high-risk procurement process, resulting in an extremely successful outcome for the Trust.
It has been a pleasure working with the Hub on this project and special thanks are given to Patrick Pereira for his guidance and support throughout.
– Nicola Kruger, Category Manager
Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust
Learning and transferability
Linen and laundry procurements are high value, time intensive and inherently high risk. This programme demonstrates the value of specialist procurement expertise, strong governance and structured collaboration.
The Hub’s Estates, Digital and Transport team has proven expertise in managing complex linen and laundry projects and can support both members and non-members with similarly challenging procurements, whether through frameworks, project support or consultancy.