Supply Chain Risk Identification and Management
In the current geopolitically uncertain and high-tariff environment, Sentrisk™ can provide the NHS with clear end-to-end supply chain visibility
Sentrisk™ is a proprietary, AI-powered supply chain risk management platform that helps uncover and manage supply chain risks across your healthcare network. This enables proactive risk management and informed decision-making in healthcare delivery.
Current State
The NHS supply chain is increasingly exposed to external pressures that disrupt availability and cost of essential medical supplies. Fluctuating global tariffs on critical devices and pharmaceuticals are inflating procurement costs and limiting sourcing flexibility. At the same time, natural hazards such as floods and heatwaves, alongside geopolitical risks including conflict, trade restrictions and sanctions, create vulnerabilities across supplier networks. Together, these factors heighten dependency risks and threaten continuity of supply for vital patient care
NHS procurement of goods accounts for approximately £28bn12 of the NHS's total annual budget of £188.5bn13. ,with almost £20bn1 spent annually on medicines, the second largest expenditure after workforce
Of the £8bn12 spend on medical equipment and consumables that could be procured via NHS Supply Chain, only 57% is going through this route, missing the target of 80% and leaving many Trusts procuring outside of the national body14
Reports indicate that a considerable proportion of supplies are sourced internationally, and many suppliers, even if registered in the UK, are reliant on overseas suppliers or outsource manufacturing to international suppliers
Direct suppliers must follow specific standards and report on their sub-tier suppliers, but there is often limited visibility and control over the actions and risks of Tier 2, 3, or lower-tier suppliers15
What Sentrisk does
Uncover your risk
Sentrisk reveals connections up to tier-n in your supply chain, leveraging AI and shipping manifest data
Understand your risk
Sentrisk verifies connections using advanced geospatial intelligence, and overlays risk data for geopolitical and natural hazard risks, credit exposures, bottlenecks, and supplier concentrations
Contextualise your risk
Sentrisk helps identify your riskiest sites, suppliers, components and products and compares them using a proprietary XR score
Real time alerts
Sentrisk lets you see live alerts on disruptions affecting your ecosystem in real time
How this could benefit the NHS
Early Detection
Flags vulnerabilities and early warnings of potential disruption risk exposures so clinical and procurement teams can act sooner
Supplier resilience
Maps supplier concentration and ‘single points of failure’, guiding diversification and buffer decisions
Operation relief
Supports operational teams with insight into supply risk and potential mitigation options to maintain continuity of care
Human rights
Identifies potential human rights risks, helping to ensure alignment with modern slavery and sustainability risks
Ready-to-use supplier risk intelligence for the NHS
Seamless data integration
Connect essential NHS supplier, procurement and contract data so your teams can easily access and work with the most relevant information
Targeted risk assessment
Apply our robust risk models to evaluate highest priority suppliers, products and services, supporting NHS-specific decision-making and action
User-friendly dashboards
Access a range of ready-made dashboards and reports, designed to deliver clear risk insights and help teams respond quickly and effectively
Apply our analytics engine to solve wider NHS problems
Risk and resilience planning
Develop strategies to minimise service interruptions and mitigate the impact of supply shortages, supporting network resilience and effective contingency planning for critical services
Case study
Multinational Pharmaceutical Company
Headquarters: USA
sites identified in the supply chain
What does this mean for the NHS?
Sentrisk can quickly reveal previously hidden supplier dependencies, bottlenecks and risk hotspots, helping buyers understand and respond to highest drivers of risk in critical suppliers, products and services before they impact patients or operations
Deep dive: Illustrative supply chain mapping for a healthcare provider relevant to NHS operations using Sentrisk
Industry
Multinational Surgical and medical instrument manufacturing Company
Headquarters: USA
Concentration
355 clusters1 of sites producing medical instruments.2 830 sites in the largest cluster in China. If a severe physical risk event impacts the largest cluster in China, over 800 sites could be disrupted at the same time. This may cause significant upstream3 delays and limit the availability of essential medical instruments and consumables for healthcare providers.
Bottlenecks
14 Tier 1 sites in the production of insulated wires4 exposed to bottleneck risk.5 A single Tier 1 supplier site involved in insulated wires production in Mexico acts as a critical bottleneck, fed by multiple Tier 2 sites and supplying three Tier 0 sites.6 This over-reliance makes it hard to quickly find alternatives during disruptions and could impact all three Tier 0 sites.
Natural hazards
14,180 sites are at risk of natural hazards. Coastal flooding drives the highest potential impact. Multiple Tier 1, 2 and 3 suppliers are exposed to natural hazard risks, putting shipments and production at risk of delays or stoppages. A severe coastal flood event could affect the availability of essential care equipment should critical suppliers be impacted.
Potential mitigation actions Sentrisk enables
Once Sentrisk has assessed supplier concentration, NHS teams can quickly identify and evaluate alternative suppliers with lower geographic concentration to keep critical equipment moving if one region is disrupted. Use Sentrisk to run scenario planning for regional disruptions ahead of time to highlight potential risks and safeguard continuity of supply for essential NHS services.
After identifying bottlenecks using Sentrisk, NHS teams can search for alternative Tier 1 suppliers to reduce single supplier site dependencies. Assess insurance coverage for supplier site disruptions to ensure financial protection if deliveries are delayed or halted. Review and strengthen contingency plans, such as backup suppliers or stockpiling critical items, to maintain operations during shocks.
Review and identify supplier locations most exposed to coastal flooding or other natural hazards using Sentrisk. Rank these sites by risk level and importance to NHS contracts and services, so the most critical and vulnerable sites are flagged for protection and further action.
Concentration
355 clusters1 of sites producing medical instruments2 830 sites in the largest cluster in China If a severe physical risk event impacts the largest cluster in China, over 800 sites could be disrupted at the same time. This may cause significant upstream3 delays and limit the availability of essential medical instruments and consumables for healthcare providers.
Potential mitigation actions Sentrisk enables
Once Sentrisk has assessed supplier concentration, NHS teams can quickly identify and evaluate alternative suppliers with lower geographic concentration to keep critical equipment moving if one region is disrupted. Use Sentrisk to run scenario planning for regional disruptions ahead of time to highlight potential risks and safeguard continuity of supply for essential NHS services.
Bottlenecks
14 Tier 1 sites in the production of insulated wires4 exposed to bottleneck risk5 A single Tier 1 supplier site involved in insulated wires production in Mexico acts as a critical bottleneck, fed by multiple Tier 2 sites and supplying three Tier 0 sites.6 This over-reliance makes it hard to quickly find alternatives during disruptions and could impact all three Tier 0 sites.
Potential mitigation actions Sentrisk enables
After identifying bottlenecks using Sentrisk, NHS teams can search for alternative Tier 1 suppliers to reduce single supplier site dependencies. Assess insurance coverage for supplier site disruptions to ensure financial protection if deliveries are delayed or halted. Review and strengthen contingency plans, such as backup suppliers or stockpiling critical items, to maintain operations during shocks.
Natural hazard
14,180 sites are at risk of natural hazards Coastal flooding drives the highest potential impact Multiple Tier 1, 2 and 3 suppliers are exposed to natural hazard risks, putting shipments and production at risk of delays or stoppages. A severe coastal flood event could affect the availability of essential care equipment should critical suppliers be impacted.
Potential mitigation actions Sentrisk enables
Review and identify supplier locations most exposed to coastal flooding or other natural hazards using Sentrisk. Rank these sites by risk level and importance to NHS contracts and services, so the most critical and vulnerable sites are flagged for protection and further action.
- A cluster of sites is classified as a concentration if there are 10 or more sites located within a 50 km radius;
- Medical instruments are tools and devices used in patient diagnosis, treatment or surgery;
- The upstream supply chain includes all the suppliers and processes that provide materials and components needed to create a product. The downstream supply chain covers the steps and partners involved in delivering the finished product to the end user, such as an NHS hospital or service;
- Insulated wires are safety-coated electrical wires used in medical devices and equipment;
- Bottleneck risk occurs when a supplier delivers goods to more than one downstream supplier in your relevant ecosystem – creating shared dependency. If there is a disruption originating from a bottleneck, it can impact multiple suppliers, leading to production delays, and increased operational costs;
- Tier 0 sites are the production facilities where finished products are made. Tier 1 suppliers provide the main components directly to these production sites. Tier 2 suppliers supply Tier 1, and Tier 3 supply Tier 2 – each tier is one step further from the final product.
With limited public data, we can already identify where supply chain risk is concentrated
Overview of visibility
From NHS publicly available supplier data, Sentrisk mapped for seven major suppliers and found ~25,000 sites globally:
Activity spans Europe, North America and Asia with smaller clusters in MENA and India
Europe accounts for 90% of total mapped supplier sites, highlighting potential regional concentration risks
Real supplier examples
These suppliers serve multiple NHS frameworks, meaning shared exposure across Trusts
Supplier A: ~7,500 supplier sites Majority in Europe, plus exposure in North America, India and MENA. Mix of pharmaceutical and diagnostic supply lines with multi-region dependencies
Supplier B: ~17,500 supplier sites Europe dominant, but also in North America, China, India and MENA. Diversified but complex global network supporting imaging and diagnostic equipment
Why does this matter?
We can already see concentration risk in Europe and cross region dependencies
With more data from you, Sentrisk could:
Trace exact supplier impacts on your operations
Model site-level disruption scenarios
Identify resilience and diversification opportunities
Overview of visibility
From NHS publicly available supplier data, Sentrisk mapped for seven major suppliers and found ~25,000 sites globally:
Activity spans Europe, North America and Asia with smaller clusters in MENA and India
Europe accounts for 90% of total mapped supplier sites, highlighting potential regional concentration risks
Real supplier examples
These suppliers serve multiple NHS frameworks, meaning shared exposure across Trusts
Supplier A: ~7,500 supplier sites Majority in Europe, plus exposure in North America, India and MENA. Mix of pharmaceutical and diagnostic supply lines with multi-region dependencies
Supplier B: ~17,500 supplier sites Europe dominant, but also in North America, China, India and MENA. Diversified but complex global network supporting imaging and diagnostic equipment
Why does this matter?
We can already see concentration risk in Europe and cross region dependencies
With more data from you, Sentrisk could:
- Trace exact supplier impacts on your operations
- Model site-level disruption scenarios - Identify resilience and diversification opportunities
Illustrative example: APPG Medicines Shortages Report16
The problem
Systemic supply fragility: reliance on a small number of overseas API/finished product sites; single source suppliers and manufacturing outages Poor visibility: fragmented, inconsistent and often voluntary shortage reporting across manufacturers, wholesalers and pharmacies Economic & logistics pressures: low generic margins, parallel export and long/variable lead times that worsen local shortfalls
The impact
Operational strain on pharmacies and trusts: staff spending significant time sourcing alternatives and managing exceptions Patient safety & continuity risks: treatment interruptions, complex substitutions and increased clinical risk for vulnerable patients Financial and service cost: emergency procurement, stock waste, and service disruption costs for the NHS and community pharmacies
The Solution: How Sentrisk can support…
Early warning & analytics: integrated dashboard that brings together manufacturer, wholesaler and dispensing data to provide risk scores and alerts, helping teams identify potential shortages days/weeks earlier
Future State
With Sentrisk fully operational, the NHS supply chain has real-time, end-to-end visibility and risk insights across all supplier tiers, highlighting geopolitical, natural hazard, compliance, and structural risks. It delivers advanced analytics on procurement spend, tariff impacts, and supplier diversification opportunities.
NHS management uses these insights to optimise procurement strategies, increasing centralised purchasing beyond the 80% target, managing costs effectively, and supporting local manufacturing. This enables reduced reliance on international suppliers, mitigates disruption risks, and streamlines procurement processes through integration with NHS systems, ensuring supply continuity and protecting patient care.
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