CCS to fund the rollout of the Atamis e-commerce system for health sector

The Atamis e-commerce system will be rolled out across all health sector organisations that wish to adopt it, following funding from Crown Commercial Service (CCS). 

CCS, the UK’s largest public procurement organisation, is working in partnership with NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to provide Atamis software licences to support health sector buyers, procurement teams, data analysts, and commercial teams to adopt the e-commerce system.

The investment will encourage all health sector bodies to use the same system for pipeline management, tendering, supplier management and contract management, delivering significant commercial benefits such as greater commercial effectiveness, efficiency, sustainability, and resilience.

Commercial benefits

More than 90 health and NHS organisations have already successfully onboarded to Atamis, and will also be able to benefit from the new funding to increase usage of the system. 

Commercial teams will have access to data-driven insights, administration costs will be slashed through automated data collection and reporting, and it will be easier to adopt new rules such as those proposed in the Procurement Bill.

CCS will provide DHSC with around £12.8m funding – £4.2m over each of the next three years. DHSC will invest this in the Atamis software and system, and data practitioners who will manage the service and identify commercial opportunities that can drive efficiency and supply chain resilience. 

The investment comes from the surplus CCS generates as a levy on the value of the business suppliers receive through its agreements.

Jacqui Rock, Chief Commercial Officer for NHS England says:

Moving to one e-commerce system will make a significant contribution to our wider efforts to support the NHS to deliver the maximum possible benefit for patients from every pound of taxpayer investment.  

Atamis will also make it easier for suppliers, especially SMEs, to do business with us, and will help us meet our sustainability requirements as part of our commitment to be Net Zero by 2045.

Helen MacCarthy, Deputy Director for Health at Crown Commercial Service says:

We’re making this investment to give something back to the health sector, enabling better outcomes for our customers. Leveraging the scale and expertise of CCS and the health sector, and the business intelligence from Atamis, will help us get the best value from procurement.

Melinda Johnson, Commercial Director for the Department of Health and Social Care says:

The successful implementation of Atamis across DHSC and our arm’s-length bodies has enabled us to standardise procurement processes, made it easier for our buyers to collaborate, and has reduced cost of ownership for all. The accumulation of improved data is enabling our commercial teams to deliver more commercial benefits and improve supply chain resilience.

Licences are offered on a non-mandatory basis.

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