TUCO extends a hand to hospices

13th January 2017

The University Caterers Organisation and The Hospice Quality Partnership unite to deliver savings to hospices across the UK
 
TUCO has opened up its leading procurement frameworks for the very first time to the hospice sector, delivering instant savings of up to 15% to members of The Hospice Quality Partnership.
 
Efficiencies made through the use of TUCO’s procurement frameworks mean that Hospice Quality Partnership members - which are made up of 68 hospices and affiliate partners from across the UK – will now crucially be able to put more of their funds into front-line patient care, where the finances are truly deserved.
 
As a social enterprise, The Hospice Quality Partnership was created in 2014 and is completely partner-owned. Its aim is to help hospices keep costs low and spend as much of their budgets as possible on core services. 
 
Through working with TUCO, the Partnership has already been able to save its partners a significant amount of indirect costs associated with individual procurement agreements. By providing shared buying power, benchmarking and data services, as well as due diligence on aspects such as food safety and origin, TUCO can give members specific information at the touch of a button.
 
Hospices across the UK form a core part of any society, forming close bonds with the neighbouring communities, therefore, the ability to work with SMEs and local suppliers through frameworks was a vital element leading to this first of a kind partnership.
 
“Our goal is to enable our partners to deliver better hospice care across the UK and a key element of that is helping them to be as efficient as possible,” said Tracey O’Keefe, Managing Director at The Hospice Quality Partnership. “Our agreement with TUCO allows our partners to make significant savings, meaning they can divert extra funds to the front-line services and help those who need it most.”
 
Mike Haslin, COO at TUCO said, “Working with this industry is an important step in our evolution. By extending our frameworks to hospices as well as the education and public sectors, our aim is to enable a new range of organisations to make savings in their catering divisions so that they can continue to provide excellent public services in our communities.”
 
For more information on TUCO and its unrivalled purchasing frameworks, visit www.tuco.ac.uk