I have a quote on my (NHS) desk from TP that is 12% lower than what we are currently paying. I also have a quote from someone else that's 30% lower. Our current prices were obtained by Estates rather than purchasing/procurement.
Our HR department in the meanwhile spent £100k on a 'social media engagement strategy' and £50k on an app whilst our IT department refuse to move away from Dell kit even though it's more expensive. Our clinical consultants refuse to change the consumables they use, even though to the Trust it's a £100k saving a year (eg sutures, gloves). It's not a procurement/purchasing dept issue a lot of the time, it's poor governance or a fear of challenging staff at a senior level that leads to the biggest waste.
As someone working in procurement I always see there are some items which we pay over the odds for but it's mainly a lack of control. Some people saying we need to streamline - I absolutely guarantee that if we streamlined to the degree where other departments purchase freely, the good cases would more than be dwarfed by those that simply don't give a shit and will purchase from wherever at whatever price.
As for the blind, it's not just supply of a blind in the £800 cost. Nor is it the the coming onto site (with two men) to install. They also have to do a site survey beforehand to measure up, look at access, install, then provide a quote, and a formal risk assessment for issuing of a permit to work, etc. They don't get paid up front, but will likely have to wait two months for payment, whereas Homebase certainly wont have that issue. There's a bigger cost to service the NHS than just supplying a blind. Of course £800 is a rip off, but it's not a like for like comparison with Homebase. Having said that, a few more handymen around NHS sites would more than pay for themselves. Around half of the jobs (I counted/analysed them) that were sent to our estates team (who then got contractors in or had their qualified electrician/plumber carry out) could have been done by a handyman at much lower cost.