Buyer

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Contracts Team in the Procurement Department at The Countess of Chester Hospital. The Buyer role is procuring on behalf of the Trust across both clinical and non clinical categories. The Buyer is responsible for allocated contracts as part of a rolling workplan. Ensuring value for money and supporting delivery of cash releasing savings. This role will suit a candidate who is looking for development opportunities and enjoys working in a fast paced environment within an Acute Trust setting. The role involves significant stakeholder engagement both internally and externally. You will be able to work independently and also as a team, ensuring compliance with the Trust SFIs and public sector legislation.,

• To identify and assist in the development, analysis and the process of contracts at national, regional and European levels in accordance with Trust Standing Financial Instructions and Standing Orders.
• To lead on reviewing and maintaining the contract data base through effective contract management by actively monitoring and updating database in a timely manner.
• To assist in the research and evaluation of the marketplace and conduct bench marking exercises through the comparison of appropriate routes of supply chain and the effective useof collaborative purchasing.
• To lead on the evaluation of quotes and tenders and to provide accurate information to assist management decisions.
• To seek and support improved methods of working and put forward improvements in departmental procedures and processes in line with Best Practice and ensure policies are electronically updated for the Trust to reference.
  
  The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provides services to West Cheshire and to Welsh patients covered by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership. Its services are provided from three locations:
• The Countess of Chester Hospital: providing 438 general and acute beds
• Ellesmere Port Hospital: providing 56 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility
• Tarporley War Memorial Hospital: a base for community services which serve the local rural population.
The Trust employs over 6258 staff (headcount) which includes temporary bank staff and provides acute emergency and elective services, primary care direct access services and obstetric services to a population of approximately 407,000. This includes 357,000 residents in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire which has a population of approximately 50,000. The Trust is a busy district general hospital and in 2022/2023, there were more than 503,342 patient attendances (inpatient, outpatient and diagnostic) ranging from a simple outpatient appointment to major cancer surgery. This is an increase of nearly 10,000 compared to the previous year when there were 494,387 patient attendances.