About Us
What is the Federation?
The LMC Buying Groups Federation was established in 2009 and comprises LMC Buying Groups throughout the country which have been established with the help of PSS (Notts) Ltd, a subsidiary of Nottinghamshire LMC Ltd. Each of the groups has been based on the model of the Trent LMCs Buying Group which has been operating successfully in the East Midlands for over a decade.
What is the purpose of LMC Buying Groups?
The objective of the LMC Buying Group is to obtain, through negotiation with suppliers, the best possible discounts on a range of goods and services, which practices regularly buy, minimising practice expense and maximising income, and saving GPs and Practice Managers the trouble of ‘shopping around' to obtain value for money. There is no compulsion for practices to use the recommended suppliers and it doesn't cost them a penny. This is seen as an added value service, which the LMC can extend to its constituent practices free of charge.
What is the operating philosophy behind the LMC Buying Group?
The more practices switch to Buying Group approved suppliers, the more valuable a client group they become and the keener the suppliers will be to keep their business and the Group can negotiate even better deals next time round.
How does it work?
The Buying Group:
- advertises and promotes the deals negotiated to its practices
The Suppliers:
- offer large discounts in anticipation of significant extra business, courtesy of the Buying Group's promotions
- the contracts are between individual practices and suppliers
- through the Federation the Group influences the terms of contracts and negotiates the price of goods to members
The Federation
- negotiates agreements/discounts from suppliers
- supplies marketing information
- monitors and researches prices
- polices the agreement with suppliers, investigates complaints and undertakes consumer satisfaction surveys
Is my LMC a member of the LMC Buying Groups Federation?
You can use the map below by clicking on any of the orange markers to see if your LMC is a member of the LMC Buying Groups Federation:
The following LMCs are members of the LMC Buying Groups Federation:
Avon, Barking & Havering, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire, Bro Taf, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Devon, Dudley, North & South Essex, Gloucestershire, Kent, Kirklees, Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland, Lincolnshire, Londonwide, Manchester, Newcastle and North Tyneside, Norfolk & Waveney, North Yorkshire, Bradford & Airedale (YORLMC), Nottinghamshire, Rochdale and Bury, Rotherham, Salford and Trafford, Sheffield, Somerset, Suffolk, Surrey & Sussex, Walsall, Wessex and Wolverhampton.
Are all the LMC's practices members of the buying group?
All practices that pay their LMC statutory/administrative levy or equivalent are eligible to join their LMC's Buying Group. Some LMCs have automatically signed up levy paying practices, giving them the opportunity to opt out if for any reason they do not wish to join, others have invited members to express a positive wish to join emphasising the benefits. If you are not sure if you are a member of your LMC's Buying Group you can email us.
How do I find out more?
You can call us on 0115 955 5440 or email us.