Since March 2024, the NHS London Procurement Partnership (NHS LPP) team has been leading on an initiative, supported by NHS England, to help NHS trusts across England understand savings potential and access new framework tariffs for mobile phone voice and data services.
Our team has been carrying out invaluable audits for NHS customers and so far, has completed over 100 audits for trusts up and down the country and identified approximately £20m of savings.
The audit has been conducted through Lot 3 of the framework by Nuvoli. Nuvoli is a telecoms management practice, dedicated to helping the public sector reduce costs and improve efficiencies across all mobile services. They are the sole Crown Commercial Services auditor of mobile estates under Lot 3 of the RM6261 framework, providing a fast and efficient audit service that also analyses the new RM6261 tariffs found in Lot 1.
NHS trusts making savings
Stuart Wilson, IT Operational Manager, Harrogate and District NHS Trust, said: “We were contacted by NHS LPP to undertake an audit of our mobile phone contracts. They put us in touch with a third party auditor, and after an initial introduction, we were asked to provide reports on our mobile phone usage and costs over the last nine months.
“This involved simply exporting the data out of our accounts, and sending it across to the auditors. This took a maximum of 20 minutes.
“Once that aspect was complete, we waited for the results which were provided around four weeks later. The information we received was detailed and concise, allowing us to see where savings could be made, or changes we could make to assist us going forward. For 20 minutes effort to get the details over to the auditors, we were shown where we could save money on our mobile phone services, which has been vital in assisting the trust.”
Preeya Bailie, Director of Central Commercial Function, NHS England, said: "By taking up this initiative, trusts can unlock in-year savings and eliminate unnecessary expenditure with a simple review of their mobile phone contracts. This offers financial benefits for every trust but also supports green practices by encouraging the reuse of mobile phones. I encourage all trusts to take advantage of this opportunity."
Hugo Dragonetti, Procurement and Systems Manager at NHS LPP, said: “It’s been a pleasure to work with NHS trusts across the country who have been able to realise savings through various ways as part of this work, including identifying costs that can be removed through inactive connections, providing cost comparison with the new framework rates, avoiding additional costs by recycling handsets and reducing tariffs on unnecessary services.”
Date: 10 October