National procurement chief leaves after four months
A senior NHS Supply Chain executive is abruptly leaving the organisation four months after he joined.
NHS Supply Chain announced on 28 July that Andy McMinn, executive commercial director, would be moving back to the Government Commercial Organisation at the end of July.
He only took up the post in April and is the second commercial director to depart inside a year, after Andy Windsor left in December to emigrate to New Zealand.
The commercial director role is responsible for implementing a major transformation at the agency; this year it has moved from an outsourced structure to one that manages almost all product categories in house, except for food, and facilities and office supplies.
NHSSC chief executive Andrew New said in an email to staff, seen by HSJ, that Mr McMinn “led the commercial directorate over the last few months through a complex collective consultation, successfully designing an organisation that will support our teams to deliver our ambitions”.
Mr McMinn joined NHSSC from the Government Commercial Function at the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs.
This was a return to the NHS for Mr McMinn who had previously worked for NHS England and Improvement and also been chief procurement officer at University Hospitals of Plymouth Trust.
It is not clear why he is leaving NHSSC and the agency did not directly respond to questions on this point, saying in a statement: “It is with regret that Andy has decided that he wanted to return to his senior civil service career within the Government Commercial Organisation.
“Andy will announce in due course the role that he will take up over the summer.”
Mr McMinn said in the statement: “The NHS will always be a significant part of my professional career and I believe that the opportunities in the future for the NHS and the NHS Supply Chain are great. The team have set out to establish a truly world-class commercial capability that will directly support the NHS in delivering exceptional patient care”.