PSUK are constantly aiming to inform, educate and influence general practice to move with the times, prepare for the future, manage and maintain businesses.
For the last ten years PSUK has led the market in procurement for general practice. Whilst many organisations aim to emulate our success we are proud to be the market leader due to the strong relationships we have built with our customers based on transparency, honesty and a genuine passion for helping healthcare businesses.
New Beginnings
In April 2005 Heidi McVay and Heidi Barrett were part of a small team that launched PSUK, a buying group for general practice. The aim was to give practices unrivalled discounts in the market due to the purchasing power that group procurement provided. Supported by PHOENIX Healthcare Distribution for wholesale terms and delivery PSUK’s portfolio of exclusive MDS and wholesale discount were the best in the market.
Consolidation
From its home city of York, PSUK very quickly became a national buying group with practices from as far afield as Benbecula joining the group to take advantage of the profitability to be gained. The team built a close relationship with the customer base, providing bespoke quotations, sourcing equipment through third parties and organising and ordering on behalf of members. PSUK continued to expand its portfolio of suppliers to cover all of a practices requirement and became the first one stop shop for all purchasing needs.
Acquisition
Following changes in wholesale distribution PHOENIX Healthcare Distribution acquired PSUK. Now part of the largest pharmaceutical wholesaler in Europe PSUK was in the fortunate position of being able to extend its services to more customers.
Partnerships
With a sales team of 10 dispensing regional managers PSUKs message reached more and more of the market. In mid 2008 Astra Zeneca selected PSUK as an agency partner and the non dispensing element of the business truly began.
Opportunity
Whilst the dispensing membership continued to expand and reach unprecedented numbers in the market, the non dispensing business also flourished. PSUK set up a telesales team to reach the 9500 non dispensing practices in England and Wales and spread the message about the profitability of ordering PA Items into the practice, rather than buying through or sending a prescription to, the pharmacy. Within a few months PSUK had a trading base of over 2000 customers.
Expansion
With a new base of customers contacting PSUK and purchasing though them on a daily basis it was decided that instead of promoting third party suppliers PHOENIX Healthcare Distributions delivery and warehousing capacity should be capitalised on. PSUK began to supply medical equipment, consumables and single use instruments directly, allowing for consolidated invoices and lower pricing in the market. Instead of taking a large margin for distribution PSUK passed this on to the customer and prices in the market began to fall.
Simultaneously, Pfizer selected PSUK as the sole distribution partner for medicines to Family Planning Clinics and prescribing only doctors.
Development
As the team grew ever larger PSUK secured new premises and moved out of the PHOENIX depot in York. The relocation allowed for an increase in staff and for the business sectors to be segmented resulting in a more streamlined approached. Further developments included the launch of a website where all practices could procure the full product portfolio.
Success
With an ever growing medical equipment offering, study day base and as the largest pharmaceutical distributor in the UK PSUK was delighted to win the Medical Supplier of The Year award.
Internally PSUK took on the manufacturer discount scheme administration from PHOENIX Healthcare Distribution and expanded the data team.
Support
In early 2013 PSUK created a dispensing support team to mirror the activities of the sales managers on territory. The aim was to focus on each practice individually and tailor the sales message to meet their specific needs. Using bespoke data the support team contacts the practices, highlighting cost saving initiatives for both the NHS and the practice.
PSUK also appointed two Business Development Managers to enhance the relationships between PSUK and our commercial partners and was awarded Medical Supplier of the Year 2013.
Diversification
PSUK brought PHOENIX Hospital Services into the company, joining the link between primary and secondary care and offering a support service to hospitals in addition to their regional manager contacts. As a result of the growth of PSUK and the new business sectors it now spanned a rebrand exercise was undertaken to reflect the modernity and success of the business. For the third year in a row PSUK was named Medical Supplier of the Year.
Celebration
On 01 April 2015 PSUK will celebrate ten years of supporting healthcare markets, informing, influencing and helping our customers prepare for the future.