The syringe purchased by public health companies finally has its "national price". In fact, the tender announced by Consip for the supply of needles and syringes to public administrations. A race of great importance, not so much for the economic value –36 million euros in two years against an annual expense for all types of needles and syringes purchased by the PA of 150 million euros – as for the "symbolic" value, since the difference in prices paid for the same type of syringe has often been used as an emblem of the "waste" of the Public Administration.
From today, for example, the common injection syringe (syringe with needle with safety mechanism) will cost, throughout Italy, from 0,049 to 0,063 euro (depending on the size), with a reduction of 70% compared to the basic auction price. In general, the discounts obtained for the various types of products put out to tender - i.e. the categories of needles and syringes in common use which in any case represent the largest share of consumption by public health facilities - were between 35 and the 70%.
The offers were submitted by 11 producers/manufacturers, i.e. all the potential economic operators present on the market. These are the winning bidders:
– Rays SpA (lots 2, 7, 8, 9, 12)
– RTI Benefis – Cardiomed Srl (lots 4, 10, 11, 13)
– Becton Dickinson Italy SpA (lots 1 and 3)
– Artsana SpA (lot 15)
– Clini-Lab Srl (lot 5)
Attached is a summary table of the prices offered by the contractors for each lot, which also include related services (delivery, training, customer care).
A supply agreement will be stipulated with the awarded suppliers, which can be used by the administrations for their purchases up to a maximum of approximately 850 million “pieces” (equal to approximately 50% of the PA's annual requirement for the types of needles and syringes put out to tender).
Finally, it should be remembered that needles and syringes are part of the 14 product categories for which the Prime Ministerial Decree of 24 December 2015 provides for the obligation of the administrations to resort - in the event of the existence of active procurement tools - to one of the 33 aggregators (including Consip) for your purchases.
The Chief Executive Officer of Consip, Luigi Marroni: “We concluded a particularly complex tender, not so much for the product purchased, but for the articulation of the procedure. Maximum consideration was given both to the qualitative elements of the offer - to make needles and syringes with excellent standards available to the PA - and to the evaluation methods, also carried out with "in vivo tests", to have the products tested directly by the users final (nurse-patient relationship). I believe that we can consider all of this an excellent result, for the quality achieved and for the savings obtained compared to the prices that the administrations normally pay. Lastly, the step forward made to reduce, if not eliminate, the differences in prices at a geographical level that has always characterized these products should be noted".
