I have often thought that one of the ways to reduce cost as the NHS would be to centralise purchasing for all items from cotton wool buds to MRI machines.
These days Amazon boast that you can place an order at 10 am and it can be delivered by 4pm the same day.
Imagine a government contract awarded to Amazon to store in one central warehouse all NHS materials . Allowing every hospital in the UK to send orders for supplies.
Also imagine as an example of one item, how many cotton wool buds are sitting in stock at each and every hospital in the country. It will run into millions, whereas using the just in time ordering this stock pile would be massively reduced.
Further to this (and I maybe wrong) each hospital have buyers for all supplies. They are able to use any supplier they choose and I am sure not at the best prices . Centralised supplies offers great negotiation power with suppliers.
@vuecinemas just tried to book 3 tickets using 2 @SkyUK VIP passes, was charged full price, so went for a refund a rebook, but now the codes are invalid.....erm....so have rebooked 3 seats at full price to ensure I have them.....genius, well done, what are my options?