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NHS Logistics

: The review was conducted some time ago and it makes interesting reading on the potential for market expansion. The report recognises that we should not expect all NHS supplies to be provided centrally. Sometimes, therefore, it is not necessarily sensible to say that a certain proportion should be provided by NHS Logistics. In response to some of the questions that I have raised, I would like a clear analysis of the types of item that NHS Logistics does not provide. They are clearly high-value items, because otherwise there would not be such a disparity between value and volume market share. If so, it would probably be difficult to achieve common ground across the health service such that sufficient supplies could be ordered to secure economies of scale. It is easy to consider the gap in the figures and assume that the private sector will have a magic way of securing agreement among those being supplied to ensure that those economies of scale can be gained.