Mr. Paul Reid:

I thank the Deputy. I will try to address the questions, which raise two points. First, the Deputy just described the classic challenge we all face. We do want to centralise and strengthen much of our procurement because a lot of what can happen is non-compliant and can occur locally. There is an ongoing challenge between trying to centralise and keeping local knowledge, but there is frustration over not being able to procure locally. That is an obvious challenge.

Specifically on our contracts, we engage significantly at local level in obtaining expertise, be it clinical expertise, medical expertise or specific IT expertise, in terms of defining the procurement contract itself. However, in terms of the issues around IT, equivalent private hospitals and others, and connectivity, we want to strengthen our procurement process through getting the local knowledge but having central oversight and control and a definition of what is procured in a more centralised manner. That will strengthen our procurement, and that will be part of the corporate plans that the head of procurement, who is here today, is finalising with each of the hospital groups and CHOs and, equally, at national level. That has to be part of the process.