Support, Training & Services PLC have, for the last 12 years, been contracted by NHS Purchasing & Supplies Agency to undertake food supplier assessment on behalf of NHS Trusts and hospitals utilising National contracts. On behalf of NHS PaSA STS maintain a datebase of suppliers approved to supply.

Suppliers can only be entered on this database at the direction of the NHS, whether for England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. For new suppliers you should contact the supplies personnel for the region or hospital Trust for further details.

Suppliers can either opt to have an audit by STS to the NHS PaSA Food Supplier Standard or can submit a third party assessment to the BRC Global Standard - Food by a UKAS accredited certification body.

For suppliers to the hospitality sector the most cost effective solution would be the NHS PaSA Food Supplier Standard.

Following referral to us by the appropriate NHS body STS will send out an introduction pack which includes a pre-audit questionnaire. The pre-audit questionnaire must be returned with payment before an audit date can be agreed.

The audit, which is normally of one day duration commences with an opening meeting where the days programme is outlined and the procedure confirmed. Then, depending on production schedules, either the company documentation is reviewed or the production facilities audited. At the conclusion of the audit a closing meeting is held to discuss and agree the non-conformities, if any, and agree timescales for completition

It is not normally necessary for the non-conformities to require a further audit, in most cases they are signed off by the company providing objective evidence.

Re-audits are carried out to a frequency according to the risk of the product, the type of operation and the audit findings. This can range from 6-24 months currently.

The Code of Practice for the NHS is currently under review. An existing copy can be downloaded from the website.