Major Issues Facing Supply Chain Managers in NHS

NHS SUPPLY CHAIN -
Major Issues Facing
Supply Chain Managers

Abstract
The inventory management is most important and vital for hospitals and health care industry
where lives of people is at stake thus, a detailed information on medicine batches and stock of
other doctor’s equipment has become vital and important. Further, effective management of the
supply chain is also vital and seemed important to diagnose possible problem on time which
ensures and leads to a solution and resolution in a correctly manner through ensuring and moving
of items in a quickly and efficiently manner to proper destination. The current research project is
based on NHS which emphasis on analysis of importance and ways of managing inventory along
with exploring strategies and effectiveness of managing suppliers. Further an identification of
tools which support maintaining safety and quality for taking enhanced competitive advantages
are also made. Beside this, the current investigation is only based on analysis of secondary data
as it more cost and time effective way of performing a study.
Table of Contents
Abstract............................................................................................................................................2
Research Topic: NHS SUPPLY CHAIN - Major Issues Facing Supply Chain Managers.............1
Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
Background to the study.........................................................................................................1
Aim and objectives.................................................................................................................1
Rationale for selection of topic...............................................................................................2
Research questions.................................................................................................................2
Literature Review.............................................................................................................................2
To identify importance and ways of managing inventory......................................................3
To analyses possible risk and Major Issues Faced by Supply Chain Managers while managing
inventory.................................................................................................................................4

To explore strategies and effectiveness of managing suppliers.............................................5
To identify tools of maintaining safety and quality for taking competitive advantages........7
Methodology and data collection.....................................................................................................8
Scope and limitation.............................................................................................................11
Results/Findings.............................................................................................................................11
Analysis and evaluation of research Findings...............................................................................20
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................22
Recommendation...........................................................................................................................23
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................24

Research Topic: NHS SUPPLY CHAIN - Major Issues Facing Supply Chain
Managers
Introduction
Background to the study
Supply chain basically represents the network of a company that its between a firm and its
suppliers associated with production and distribution of a specific product or service. Supply
chain network includes different activities, entities, people, resources and information involved
and contributes in creating a product started from availability of raw material till distribution of
final product (Jia, Gong and Brown, 2019). Thus, the key activities of supply chain network
comprises of effective reining, designing, manufacturing along with proper packaging and
transportation. Thus, proper supply chain management is important and vital for an organisation
as it streamlines everything within a firm through keeping and maintaining a proper smooth flow
of all products and services without any unexpected disasters. Apart from this, an effective
supply chain management is also vital to diagnose a problem on time and ensures disruption
correctly through ensuring and moving of items in a quickly and efficiently manner to proper
destination (Betcheva, Erhun and Jiang, 2020).
The NHS (National Health Service) is a well known publically funded healthcare system
the main headquarter of which is situated at London, England, UK. This organisation is working
with the aim of providing healthy and high quality care services for all people across the various
location of UK (Allden and et. al., 2018). Thus, an effective supply chain has become an essence
and must needed for NHS. Many issues are faced by Supply Chain Managers is ensuring a
proper and smooth delivery of all needed products, equipments and heath care services to
consumer which consists of costing, quality customer services, risk management, supplier
relationship, unforeseen delays, qualified team and workers along with fast changing markets.
Therefore, current investigation is lead out on NHS to identify management ways, management
strategies and security tools regarding the supply chain adopted by its manager to have a smooth
supply chain management.
Aim and objectives
Research aim
1

“To identify management ways, management strategies and security tools regarding the
supply chain. A case study on the NHS supply chain”.
Research objectives
 To identify importance and ways of managing inventory.
 To explore strategies and effectiveness of managing suppliers.
 To identify tools of maintaining safety and quality for taking competitive advantages.
Rationale for selection of topic
The selection of current research topic is rationale as effective management of supply
chain is vital and essentially needed for all organisations to ensure smooth and free flow of
distribution of products and services. Thus, leading out of current investigation in the topic of
supply chain management which comprises of ways, problems and importance of managing
inventory is vital and significant from view point of a firm. Apart from this, leading out current
investigation is also important to evaluate about some better strategies to help and aid supply
mangers for effective management of inventory along with some benefits of using tools of
maintaining quality and safety for taking advantages of competition. Beside this, current research
project is also vital from personal view point of researcher as it meets academic and educational
interest along with ensuring and facilitating key knowledge and understanding on the vital topic
of supply chain. Further, development in skills and managerial capabilities is also a vital
significance of current project for researcher and other scholars.
Research questions
 What are some ways, problems and importance of managing inventory?
 Which strategies can help companies in managing suppliers?
 What are some benefits of using tools of maintaining quality and safety for taking
advantages of competition?
Literature Review
This forms a crucial and vital part of each research work which provides a leads out a base
for further investigation by the way of analysis and review of secondary form of data Arifoğlu
and Tang, 2020). The current literature review is based on the topic of Major Issues Facing
Supply Chain Managers that main objectives of which are evaluated and discussed below with
the help of available online articles and journal.
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To identify importance and ways of managing inventory
As per the view point Betcheva, L., Erhun, F. and Jiang, H., 2020, managing inventory is
important to ensure accuracy and efficiency in product flow which results in saved time and
money along with ensuring a smooth and free flow of products and services to proper destination
and customers. Beside this, an effective management of inventory also helps in preventing the
issue and chances of stock-outs along with ensuring accurate recordkeeping to reduce chances of
all chaos and confusion together with a better control of flow of resources. Thus, an analysis can
be made out that managing inventory is must and essentially needed within a hospital to have an
effective inventory management system which ensures real-time inventory counts and set up
parameters to eliminate waste and product shortages (Importance of Inventory Management in
the Healthcare Industry, 2019).
Apart from this an, analysis about the importance of managing inventory within an hospital
ca n also be made from the information provided by Kevin Johnston, 2020, an evaluation and
discussion of which is provided as follows:
Meeting inventory goals- The main benefit and advantage of inventory management
comprises of having a more accurate and a real time inventory counts through setting up and
leading out an automatic and effective records and check on inventory. Thus, effectively
managing inventory ensures and leads out to elimination of wastage and also reduces the chances
of product shortage with in a medical organisation to meet its inventory goals in a more effective
manner (Chintanapunt and Pichyangkura, 2020).
Manage recalls and reduce expiration of medicine- The another importance of inventory
management within hospital comprise of effectively tracking all medical equipments and
devices. This facilitates and leads a better control and check over medication with barcodes and
asset tags which empower managers to more effectively recall the expiry date of inventory to
reduce the number of expiated products and overcome the issue of medicine expiration.
Alignment with sales projections- In field of medicines, it is quite difficult to have accurate
sales projections as one cannot predict the diseases and the number of accidents thus, it is vital
and difficult to set a coordination between demand and supply of medical inventory. Thus, more
automated and better management of inventory becomes more vital and crucial for hospital to
have an in comparison to meet actual sales. Apart from this, prevention of wastage and free up
cash that would gone in to manage excess inventory would also be effectively management by
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