Supporting public and private sector collaboration through bespoke finance agreements

Client:

De Soutter Medical Ltd

Sector:

Healthcare equipment

Supporting the procurement of a £97,000 surgical power tool package to support private and public sector collaboration in the wake of the pandemic

SAF worked closely with medical equipment supplier, De Soutter Medical Limited to develop a bespoke, flexible hire agreement to ensure the successful funding of much-needed medical equipment for the firm’s client, The Benenden Hospital Trust.

Client Brief:

In a bid to clear the significant surgical backlog caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, an agreement was established between NHS England and the Independent Healthcare Providers Network.

As part of this, private healthcare provider, The Benenden Hospital Trust was among those selected to support the operational management of the pandemic, and provide its resources to help secure additional, much-needed capacity for busy NHS Trusts.

With healthcare workers focused on treating those most impacted by Coronavirus, a significant backlog arose in orthopaedic surgery.

Working with medical equipment supplier, De Soutter Medical Ltd, SAF was able to provide the finance agreement needed to enable The Benenden Hospital to procure industry-leading surgical power tools ensuring they had access to the most effective and efficient technology needed for small bone surgery.

SAF’s Solution:

De Soutter Medical Ltd is the world’s leading manufacturer of powered surgical instruments, providing first-class, cost-effective surgical power tools, with its product range primarily focused on the orthopaedic and trauma marketplace.

SAF worked as an extension of the De Soutter team to quickly and efficiently implement a flexible finance agreement which means the end-user, Benenden Hospital Trust, was able to quickly start using this equipment.

Our primary role was to expedite the order process and streamline the customer journey to ensure that the hospital could quickly begin using the power tools package and start supporting the NHS with clearing some of the orthopaedic backlog.

This was made possible largely through our significant experience of implementing finance agreements within the healthcare sector, understanding and responding to funding challenges and acknowledging the urgency of the project regarding the surgical backlog.

We were able to develop a finance solution that would allow De Soutter Medical to offer their equipment via a branded leasing agreement, removing the need to find significant upfront capital, and providing an attractive revenue stream to the supplier, without compromising on the quality of product or delivery service for the end-client, Benenden Hospital Trust.

Outcome:

SAF supported De Soutter Medical with the establishment of a branded finance agreement to promote the procurement process by offering alternative procurement options to outright capital purchases.

The approval process for medical equipment investment can often be complex, multi-faceted and time-consuming, so making this as straightforward as possible was pivotal.

As part of the collaboration between public and private sector healthcare providers, it was instrumental to develop a time-effective solution to ensure that The Benenden Hospital could begin delivering much-needed surgical treatment.

SAF worked closely with both De Soutter Medical and key decision-makers at the hospital to make the procurement process as simple as possible.

This brought significant benefits, including:

  • Establishment and maintenance of a strong relationship between the supplier and end user
  • Introduction of a bespoke, branded finance solution, making equipment more accessible in instances where upfront capital isn’t available
  • Assurance of speed and quality of delivery. SAF was able to progress the transaction from initial quote to formal approval and order within 3 weeks, ensuring that the Benenden Trust could expedite the procurement process.

Phil Dring, Head of Sales at SAF, said of the project:

“We were delighted to provide a quick solution via the creation of a branded finance solution in partnership with De Soutter Medical.

“We understood the importance of ensuring their end client, Benenden Hospital could quickly procure the surgical power tools needed to help combat the orthopaedic backlog, and it was rewarding to play a small part in facilitating collaboration between the public and private healthcare sectors to tackle the pandemic.

“Our team was able to use its extensive experience in healthcare to quickly establish a finance agreement that didn’t compromise on the quality of equipment or delivery, and which streamlined the overall procurement process.”

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