Carol Sumner

Carol specialises in commercial contract and procurement advice on IT, medical equipment and technology procurements for health sector clients.

She has over 23 years’ experience advising clients across a range of sectors including diagnostic imaging, radiology, cardiology, radiotherapy, pathology, PACS, RIS, LIMS, EPR, PAS and network projects. Carol is the lead adviser on the NHS Commercial Solutions Diagnostic Imaging Framework and has advised numerous clients on call offs from the Framework. She has also managed equipment and service contracts in imaging and pathology sectors.

Carol has also advised on a number of health sector transformation projects. She generally understands the efficiency and quality improvement drivers that underpin such projects and works with clients to ensure that the legal discussions and documentation fully reflect the required objectives.

Relevant experience includes advising:

• Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. This included managing equipment service for interventional radiology and cardiology with Siemens. Carol was lead legal adviser for the Trust team and advised at all stages of the project, working closely with technical and financial advisers to provide strategic procurement advice and commercial support throughout the project.
• London North West Healthcare NHS Trust and Brent and Harrow CCGs. This was a high value end to end clinical pathology services contract with TDL Ltd, completed 2019. Carol was lead legal adviser for this collaborative procurement bringing together a team of lawyers advising on all aspects of the project from commercial, procurement, employment and property as well as helping the clients with respect to project management aspects required by the collaboration.
• North Bristol NHS Trust. Carol is currently advising the Trust on a number of IT and pathology projects including a PAS project, a PACS project and a managed equipment services project for a network of Trusts in the West of England of which NBT is a member.

Carol is regularly recognised by clients for her “strategic, focused and commercially pragmatic advice” and her ability to lead legal teams and work holistically with client in-house teams or external technical and financial/tax advisers.