SUCCESS STORY

Delivering vital efficiencies in tackling the pandemic

  • The Test and Trace programme, implemented as part of the Government response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

our impact

The Covid-19 pandemic threw up procurement and logistics problems that had never been encountered before. Working with civil servants, interim contractors and consultants, 4C Associates provided a governance and problem solving basis for the Test and Trace programme, helping to achieve significant time and cost savings, which ultimately saved lives and enabled a return to normal life.

the Business challenge

The Test and Trace mission was to step up the infrastructure to conduct testing of the population in order to break the chains of transmission and stop the virus spreading. The Commercial Function was an essential enabler, ensuring the supply chain and infrastructure was in place to enable test sample collection, logistics and laboratory testing, along with procurement of all the consumables required to perform c800k tests a day and Public Funds spent in a transparent and compliant manner.

Our Approach

4C Associates established good governance and problem solving in the early stages of the programme, which was built on limited processes due to the rapid formation

We responded to the constantly evolving nature of the programme and managed changing demands and forecasts, adapting to the highly flexible nature of the working environment, developing new strategies, new approaches and innovative solutions to problems that had previously never needed to be considered

We led the development of a fully automated reporting suite. This helped to achieve a cut in production time from two days to two hours, which had a significant impact on team efficiency and testing volumes to reach more people and prevent the virus from spreading

The Consumables, Reagents & Equipment (CR&E) team secured contracts for consumables in a market experiencing 50x normal demand and securing cost savings and cost avoidances totalling over £300m

We worked collaboratively with a team of civil servants, interim contractors and consultants, united in a common goal to deliver the Test and Trace programme for the nation, saving lives and enabling a return towards a normal way of life

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