THE organisation providing NHS community and mental health services in Worcestershire has made savings of £250,000 without affecting patients.

Worcestershire Health and Care Trust's procurement team was founded last year and has since saved more than £93,000 on printer cartridges and £46,000 on stationary.

Head of procurement Jeremy Pewton said: “The trust is really committed to saving money in a way which maintains quality of services and we have worked really hard to identify where we could getter better value for money for the things we buy.

“We have done this by restricting what we can purchase to those items which have been identified as being of best value.

“It’s not about doing things on the cheap but about ensuring the things we buy are offering real value for money which is what our local taxpayers would expect.”

The team are now working on a five-year strategy detailing where further savings can be made.