Procurement expertise provides relief for Gippsland health services

Bairnsdale Regional Health Service Radiographers Maddie King and Peter Stevens with the new CT scanner

Regional health services are joining forces with HSV to tap into its broad network and technical expertise when they engage with the procurement team to secure medical imaging equipment.

At Bass Coast Health, radiology services are outsourced, and Manager of Procurement and Contracts Darren Taylor says his team didn’t have the subject matter expertise to procure a new C-arm mobile fluoroscopy machine.

The high specification machine, used in procedures such as orthopaedic, gastroscopy and vascular surgeries, was procured through HSV earlier this year when the service’s old unit was decommissioned. 

Darren says he initially approached HSV to find out if the equipment was under contract.

“HSV offered to assist us with the tender which was an enormous relief. They were able to enlist the right subject matter experts to help put together the specifications for a machine that would suit us,” Darren says.

HSV’s Customer Relationship Manager Emma Hammond connected Bass Coast Health with a radiology manager at Leongatha who visited clinicians onsite to draw up specifications for the purchase.

“We received way more than we initially envisaged,” says Darren.

“We were able to futureproof the machine, ensuring that as our clinical services expand, it will continue to meet our needs.”

Darren says the new machine will provide high resolution real-time X-ray images to guide procedures.

“We wouldn’t have been able to achieve such a positive outcome so quickly and with as much confidence without the HSV team,” he says.

They made our job easier. With their support it was easier to get the approval locally for the capital funds we needed.”

Similarly at Bairnsdale Regional Health Service, when Medical Imaging Manager Melanie Wade was looking for a new computed tomography (CT) scanner for a planned expansion of the medical imaging unit, HSV managed the tender process.

“We’re a small service and we don’t have a lot of tender documents. After we decided on the type of machine, HSV did all the legwork including liaising with the vendor.”

Melanie says the $2 million project concluded in May 2022 with the installation of a new Canon CT machine.

She says the new CT machine produces higher resolution coronary artery scans, which reduces travel times for locals who would otherwise have to drive to Sale or Traralgon for the service.

HSV’s Head of Sourcing – Equipment Mark Lennen says regional health services accounted for around 10 per cent of HSV’s medical equipment expenditure this financial year.

“There are benefits available to them when they work with HSV,” Mark says.

“For those smaller regional health services that don’t have the resources to manage a tender, HSV can provide ongoing guidance and support in addition to market expertise, medical equipment procurement expertise, price benchmarking and quote reviews, assistance with supplier negotiations and contractual enforcement.

“We can also help them access technical support through our internal subject matter experts or by leveraging relationships we have with external subject matter experts in the regions,” Mark says.