Annual membership of the NHS Alliance

About the buyer

Somerset NHS Foundation Trust provides NHS hospital and community services across Somerset, and buys as an NHS trust with its own team of procurement and contract management specialists. Tenders are advertised on the Atamis e-tendering portal, with notices also published on the Find a Tender Service. Clinical services contracts follow the Provider Selection Regime at any contract value. Non-clinical procurement runs through framework agreements, including NHS Supply Chain, NHS Shared Business Services and the Crown Commercial Service. Suppliers below the tender threshold can register on the Trust's database of potential suppliers.

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 Somerset NHS Foundation Trust's contract awards have been in repair and maintenance, IT services and medical equipment and pharmaceuticals.