Purpose

The purpose of this explorative research is to analyse the resilience of the United Kingdom's (UK) healthcare supply chains from a customer’s perspective in the light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the capabilities of preparedness, robustness, recovery and adaptability as the foundational percept for supply chain resilience, 22 healthcare professionals in 17 of the UK's National Health Scheme (NHS) Trusts were interviewed to explore their personal and organisational approaches adopted relative to the provision of eye protection, gloves, gowns, aprons, masks and respirators. The Dynamic Capabilities View is mapped to the resilience capabilities and used to analyse the data from a transformational supply chain research perspective.

Findings

The supply chains were largely unprepared, which was not particularly surprising even though the availability of gloves was significantly better compared to the other personal protective equipment (PPE). Techniques adopted to ensure robustness and recovery revealed the use of unsanctioned methods such as extended use of PPE beyond recommended use, redefinition of guidelines, protocols and procedures by infection control and the use of expired PPE – all of which compromised customer well-being.

Research limitations/implications

As the paper views resilience through the lens of customers, it does not provide the perspectives of the supply chain practitioners as to the reasons for the findings and the challenges within these supply chains.

Practical implications

The compromise of the well-being of healthcare workers due to the vulnerabilities of healthcare supply chains is highlighted to managers and prescriptions for post-disruption adaptability are made.

Originality/value

This paper introduces transformative research to supply chain resilience research by uniquely looking at resilience from the customers' well-being perspective.

中文翻译：

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医疗保健供应链的弹性：回顾英国对 COVID19 大流行的反应

目的

这项探索性研究的目的是根据冠状病毒大流行，从客户的角度分析英国 (UK) 医疗保健供应链的弹性。

设计/方法/途径

使用准备、稳健、恢复和适应能力作为供应链弹性的基本概念，采访了英国 17 个国家健康计划 (NHS) 信托机构的 22 名医疗保健专业人员，以探讨他们在提供护目镜、手套、长袍、围裙、口罩和呼吸器。动态能力视图映射到弹性能力，并用于从转型供应链研究的角度分析数据。

发现

供应链基本上没有做好准备，这并不特别令人惊讶，尽管与其他个人防护设备 (PPE) 相比，手套的可用性要好得多。为确保稳健性和恢复性而采用的技术揭示了使用未经批准的方法，例如超出推荐使用范围的个人防护设备的长期使用，通过感染控制重新定义指南、协议和程序，以及使用过期的个人防护设备——所有这些都损害了客户的健康。

研究局限性/影响

由于本文通过客户的视角来看待弹性，因此它没有提供供应链从业者关于调查结果的原因和这些供应链中的挑战的观点。

实际影响

向管理人员强调了由于医疗保健供应链的脆弱性而对医疗保健工作者的福祉造成的损害，并制定了中断后适应性​​的处方。

原创性/价值

本文通过从客户福祉的角度独特地看待弹性，将变革性研究引入供应链弹性研究。