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About the buyer

Medway NHS Foundation Trust runs Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, buying as an acute healthcare provider serving Medway and Swale. Goods and materials are ordered electronically through NHS Supply Chain for packing and distribution. Smaller purchases go out for written quotations, with the number of bids required rising as contract value increases. Higher-value contracts move into a formal tendering process governed by public procurement regulations. Purchasing follows standard NHS terms and conditions alongside the Trust's own standing financial instructions. Five clinical divisions structure the Trust's buying across hospital services.

UK health spending has nearly quadrupled to £241.8bn in 2024/25, £20bn up on the year before. £140.6bn of that went to procurement, the biggest sector of UK public spending and the fastest-growing.

Over the past 5 years, most of Medway NHS Foundation Trust's contract awards have been in medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, construction work and IT services.