Dr Minh Alexander retired consultant psychiatrist 12 March 2026
This is a very brief post to share an NHS FOI response.
Following recent concerns about shortage of bone cement and dependence on one main NHS supplier who had a production problem, I asked NHS Supply Chain about its approach to the issue of single source supply.
In brief, the NHS is unable to say how many products are currently sourced from single suppliers because the data is not held centrally, but NHS Supply Chain asserts that it “does not tend to sole source”. Where tenders result in only one product, “NHS Supply Chain will review the market and seek new entrants”.
There is reportedly no policy governing the risk management of sourcing from single suppliers. But NHS Supply Chain says it does have a risk mapping process, and that there is contingency planning “in the event that the sole supplier is unable to supply”.
This is NHS Supply Chain’s FOI response, which I will forward to Health Committee and NAO:
Alexander's Excavations 
Good work – and quite enlightening. Along the same lines, I was concerned about resilience following Laboratory systems failures such as the Synlabs ransom ware attack at Guys & Kings. The larger the network (as recommended by NHSE) the greater the clinical impact and GPs were affected for many months I believe. Before centralisation, we could ask neighbouring labs to help. out. There should be a robust backup plan. I should have asked. .
https://www.digitalhealth.net/2025/06/patient-dies-as-a-result-of-cyber-attack-on-nhs-pathology-provider/
LikeLike
Thank you Malila. A good point about cyber centralisation. It amounts to the same thing.
LikeLike