Supply chain resilience during pandemic disruption: evidence from healthcare

TLDR

The study investigates how public‑sector healthcare supply chains demonstrate resilience during pandemic disruption and seeks lessons for recovery and future readiness. An exploratory case study of seven semi‑structured interviews and document analysis of the healthcare personal protective equipment supply chain was conducted. The analysis revealed that agility, collaboration, flexibility, and redundancy enhanced resilience during COVID‑19, with collaboration identified as a key mechanism, though pre‑pandemic supplier relationships did not improve tier visibility, marking the first in‑depth resilience insights for healthcare supply chains.

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to explore how resilience is evident in healthcare supply chains in the public sector when faced with pandemic disruption and to identify any learnings to inform recovery and future-readiness phases. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory case study was conducted, consisting of seven semi-structured interviews with public sector supply chain actors in the healthcare personal protective equipment supply chain. The data included document analysis. Findings Key findings show how specific resilience strategies such as agility, collaboration, flexibility and redundancy, contributed to supply chain resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic response. Collaboration is identified as a key mechanism for resilience with public sector networks viewed as facilitating this. Established collaborative relationships with suppliers pre-pandemic did not support increased visibility of tiers within the supply chain. Originality/value This is one of the first papers to provide in-depth resilience insights through an example of healthcare supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic.