e-Three News & Press Releases

e-Three supports the use of e-auctions for social care provision.

On Monday 1 June the Times contained a two page article challenging the use of e-auctions to select social care providers for the elderly. E-Three did not provide the e-auction services that supported these competitions. However, the Times article raised some important questions on how far it is useful to rely on e-procurement technologies to deliver value in complex service environments.

e-Three does not claim that e-auctions are applicable to all scenarios. E-auctions work particularly well, both for suppliers and buyers, where markets are not being sufficiently well-tested and where products and services can be well defined and where suppliers’ delivery standards can be effectively verified. In all cases, sound preparation of the competition and a good understanding of the market are key.

But it is important to understand that e-auctions can also be set up to achieve a best value for money outcome and not just the lowest price by designing competitions where, for example, the selection criteria rank performance and quality over price. However, as the issues relating to the quality and value for money of social care provision for the elderly are very complex and challenging, such competitions need to be planned and managed with great care if they are to meet their objectives.

Also, we need to recognise that Central Government funding for social care is being strictly rationed. That in turn is forcing Local Authorities and NHS Trusts to look for ever more radical ways of cutting the costs of care provision to make inadequate budgets stretch further than they were intended to. Equally, the supplier base is not efficient and consists of too many small companies that lack the ability to manage and deliver good quality care services. The supplier selection process therefore needs to place a heavy weighting on proof of delivery capability against the key standards that are required in the tender.

Moreover, the Government’s commitment to introduce Personal Care Budgets, whilst a welcome concept, risks being seriously undermined without much more thought being put into how best to manage the Care Supply Chain. If public bodies are having difficulties selecting effective care providers, it is hard to imagine how the most vulnerable parts of our society will fare better once responsibility for purchasing is transferred directly to these individuals

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e-Three is a Spend Management company. We help organisations improve the way they spend their money with suppliers, realising significant cost savings whilst protecting or increase service and product quality. We achieve this through a combination of category expertise, process knowledge and best-of-breed technology.