Thank you for the FOI enquiry requesting information on:

• NHS Supply Chain utilisation of automation in managing supply chain inventory (the definition of automation includes robotics and artificial intelligence and inventory may be defined as the stock of items stored by an organisation for the meeting of customer’s needs), including:
  • is artificial intelligence or robotics used anywhere within the organisation’s supply chain , if so where?
  • if answered ‘Yes’ to the above,  what inventory management / automation system is deployed ? please provide the name of the developer or software.
  • where is inventory stored?
  • how is unwanted inventory disposed off ?
  • were any lessons learnt on improving inventory management as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic or Brexit?  
  • provide links to where data on NHS Trust usage of inventory can be found

The request was handled as a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. SCCL have provided the following response to the above request, see attached response.