Accelerating the Shift to Value-Based Procurement
24 July 2025
Insights from the FFTF Strategy Review
The recently published review by Luach Consulting Group, Value-Based Procurement: A Great Fit for the Present and Future of the NHS, offers a timely and insightful commentary on the NHS’s 10-year “Fit for the Future” (FFTF) strategy. The review explores how value-based procurement (VBP) is increasingly recognised as essential to driving sustainable, outcome-focused change in the NHS.
At the heart of the NHS FFTF strategy is a clear commitment to aligning resources with better health outcomes. This signals a broader cultural and operational shift from traditional cost-driven procurement to models that prioritise long-term patient and system-wide value. With the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) actively developing a national VBP methodology, and NHS Supply Chain showcasing real-world case studies, momentum is building around a more consistent understanding and application of “value”.
The review acknowledges that while the NHS is embracing value-based language and metrics, practical implementation still faces challenges. Crucially, the NHS must strengthen its capability to define, measure, and act upon outcomes, both clinical and operational. Initiatives such as the NHS England Value Savings Methodology and the expansion of PROMs and PREMs represent important progress, but ensuring equitable representation in patient feedback remains a priority to avoid widening health inequalities.
One key enabler identified is the planned transition to multi-year NHS budgets from 2026/27, which will allow more sustainable planning and incentivise innovation. Financial incentives and rewards for high-performing clinical teams, alongside mechanisms to reduce siloed budgets, are vital to embedding VBP principles across the system. However, the review also challenges the industry to adapt, urging suppliers to move beyond short-term sales models and embrace outcomes-driven partnerships.
Luach also highlights the importance of involving patients in the procurement process, not as a complication, but as a means to focus investment on what genuinely matters to care outcomes. Furthermore, it encourages greater collaboration across clinical disciplines and industry to develop pathway-based solutions that align with the NHS’s direction of travel.
The report concludes with a call for urgency: while the FFTF strategy is comprehensive and ambitious, slow implementation risks worsening existing pressures. To truly be “fit for the future”, the NHS must accelerate existing initiatives and invest in training, data, and system change. Value-based procurement is not a distant ambition, it is a vital tool already within reach.
Read the full review here
Read our VBP document here