Bath, Swindon, and Wiltshire ICS

The Customer

The BSW Acute Hospital Alliance Procurement Service is an integral part of the BSW Together Integrated Care System (ICS), providing healthcare procurement services to communities across the Bath, Swindon, and Wiltshire regions.

With a focus on delivering collaborative, integrated procurement, the Alliance is driven by a mission to improve health outcomes and offer high-quality services across its hospitals. Rob Webb leads the procurement team tasked with ensuring the smooth running of the supply chain across the Alliance.

The Challenge

Data fragmentation across trusts in the ICS

Whilst the region had collaborated on procurement over the years, each trust had disparate systems and data. Trusts within the ICS operated on different procurement systems, creating gaps in visibility and making it difficult to manage procurement activities cohesively across the region. This lack of connected data led to challenges in managing catalogues, inventory, and workplans, contributing to duplicated efforts, missed savings opportunities, and inefficiencies.

Further complicating matters, Sulis Hospital, a recently integrated former private institution, had different procurement systems, exacerbating the team’s issues. With rising pressures to deliver savings and improve outcomes, Rob Webb and his team needed a solution to unify data across the ICS and provide clear insights into his procurement operations.

Why AdviseInc

BSW has worked with AdviseInc for several years, relying on their expertise in spend analytics and insights. Having been involved in the development of several AdviseInc tools, Rob trusted the team to deliver the right solutions. 

AdviseInc was uniquely positioned to address the challenges faced by the ICS, bringing both technology and a human-centred approach to problem-solving.

“AdviseInc isn’t just a supplier – they’re a partner. They bring deep insights from other Trusts and help us stay ahead of the curve. Their tools give us the data and clarity we need to make smarter decisions.”

The Solution

AdviseInc implemented a suite of analytical solutions to empower Rob’s team, focusing on three critical modules: Catalogue Check, Inventory Management, and Workplan. These tools provided actionable insights, bringing clarity and control to the procurement process.

Catalogue Check

One of the Alliance’s most significant challenges was managing inconsistent product catalogues across different Trusts. This resulted in inaccurate data, duplicated product lines, and inefficiencies in the purchase-to-pay process. AdviseInc’s Catalogue Check module streamlined catalogue management, connecting product data with spend to ensure resource is focussed on the right catalogue lines. Plus it provided a wealth of other information to reduce the expires and errors.

“Catalogue Check has been a game-changer for us,” says Jen Hykin. “We use it daily – it helps us maintain our catalogues with minimal effort, saving us time and resources.”

Inventory Management

Managing inventory across the ICS was another key challenge, as each Trust operated separate systems, making it difficult to track stock levels, wastage, and optimisation opportunities. AdviseInc’s Inventory Management module unified data from disparate Inventory Management systems, providing a single view of stock levels, wastage, expiry and usage trends. The tool is used by materials management staff to manage stock better.

“Having a clear view of our inventory has transformed how we operate,” says Rob. “We’ve been able to reduce costs while ensuring that patient care remains a top priority.”

Workplan

Managing procurement workplans across multiple Trusts was another area where BSW faced challenges. Each Trust used different systems, making aligning priorities and tracking procurement projects difficult. AdviseInc’s Workplan module was designed to streamline this process by providing a flexible, customisable solution for managing procurement activities.

Platform Plus

In addition to these modules, BSW continued to use AdviseInc’s core analytics tool and insights service, Platform Plus, to drive further efficiencies. Platform provided monthly spend analysis and benchmarking, while Platform Plus added expert analysis, offering tailored insights into clinical and non-clinical area that helped the team stay on top spend.

The Conclusion

AdviseInc’s suite of solutions empowered Rob’s team to take control of their data and procurement processes, leading to significant improvements in efficiency and cost savings. By simplifying catalogue management, improving inventory visibility, and streamlining workplanning across the ICS, BSW makes data-driven decisions that deliver better value for money and enable the team to focus on what matters most – providing excellent care for their patients.

“Working with AdviseInc has been invaluable. They’ve helped us unlock efficiencies, transform our data, and ultimately deliver smarter procurement decisions across our ICS.”