As a preferred supplier for over 50 NHS Trusts across the UK, we can often anticipate the needs of our clients. However, given our experience with the nature of the healthcare sector, we strive to adapt our services where required.

In 2021, Liverpool University Hospitals (in partnership with NHS England and Improvement and Department of Health and Social Care) offered SF Taylor an opportunity to tender. This was to provide a pick and pack service for testing services (COVID) to healthcare organisations within Cheshire and Merseyside; Laboratory Testing Covid LAMP Pick and Pack Service. They required a supplier to pick & pack 36,000 packs (540,000 tests) based on a 15 week supply to each member of staff, which would also included contingency stock.

This project encompassed 13 NHS Foundation Trusts, in the Northwest UK. The Trusts also had the complexities of multiple sites, and multiple departments for ordering.

Each Trust needed the facility to order quickly and easily and ensure that they had access to all of the stock required for their teams. They wanted an organisation with experience in developing and delivering such a project and a dedicated team, who would be on hand to answer queries. Ultimately, they required a partner who they could trust to deliver this service in an efficient yet economic manner, reducing costs, as well as environmental impact where possible.

We work closely with NHS Trusts to align and adapt our services, to ensure that their needs are met. Therefore, we need to understand what they are. We were confident that we could fulfil their needs, so we worked in parallel and developed our proposal. Once approved, we quickly implemented the following:

• Set up and creation of a dedicated customer service team and contact channels.
• The production of 3,000 packs per week, in line with the agreement. We carried out testing on the quickest way to wrap and package the products and put the additional resources in place, such as extra staffing within our warehouse, who could be solely responsible for this pick and pack service.
• Developed bespoke packaging to fit products.
• Developed bespoke outer carriers to meet call off patterns.
• Orders delivered in the most suitable form as requested – clearly labelled and using strong, robust material to ensure protection of products.
• Implemented a secure pick and pack facility for temperature controlled products.
• Implemented a sterile picking line with protective clothing.
• Created instructions for use to ensure the project operated smoothly from outset to completion.
• Randomisation data developed, created, tested and approved for the pilot.
• Bespoke instructions created for 2000 users.
• Unique bespoke kits made for 2000 users.

In addition to the above, we created a SMART testing pilot that required 2000 randomisation packs being created, all with unique patterns for the future analysis by Trust and University professors. This project was a national pilot to introduce SMART testing across the UK.

Our Customer Solutions facilities, our team and experience in supplying to the NHS nationally and its ways of working all contributed to successful scoping, developing and delivery of the project.