NOE CPC Members' Forum March 2023: NHS England Sustainable Procurement Update
Alastair Clay, Sustainable Procurement Manager at NHS England, recently presented a Sustainable Procurement Update at our Members’ Forum. Here is an overview of the key activities addressing sustainability in the NHS.
The sustainability and social value (SSV) agenda within the NHS continues to be at the forefront. A total of 62% of the NHS carbon footprint is based within NHS Supply Chain, with many of these emissions occurring in the UK. This means that NHS Procurement has an important role to play in addressing NHS England’s targets of delivering a net zero NHS by 2040.
Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP)
NHS England has recently announced the Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP). From April 2023, for all contracts above £5 million per annum, the NHS will require suppliers to publish a carbon reduction plan. From April 2024, the NHS will extend this requirement to cover all procurements.
To support suppliers with the upcoming CRP requirement, the NHS is running supplier training webinars. To sign up for one of these regular sessions, please register your interest in NHS Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP) supplier webinars | NHS England Event.
CCF Hub Sustainability Content – Net Zero and Social Value
There is a lot of SSV support material in place to support NHS providers develop and meet their own sustainability and social value targets. It is important that NHS organisations keep up to date with sustainability, net zero and, social value content that is issued on the Central Commercial Function (CCF) Hub. Please ensure you are registered on the hub as it contains a wealth of information from the Sustainable Procurement and Supply Chain team. To access this information, please visit the Net Zero and Social Value in Procurement page on the CCF Hub workspaces at FutureNHS.
All NHS staff can also sign up for this free Net Zero and Social Value training which has been developed by commercial experts at the CCF at NHS England. The course takes on average one hour to complete and is split over 3 short modules.
You can register for the course here: Net Zero & Social Value Training
NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap
SSV is important to everyone working within the NHS and it is everyone’s role to work toward developing a greener NHS. Suppliers are no exception to this; they are key to achieving the NHS net zero ambition.
While the NHS can modify the way it consumes goods and services to reduce carbon emissions, part of our supply chain emissions can only be reduced by suppliers themselves. NHS England has produced an NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap which can be viewed here. The NHS strongly encourages all suppliers to prepare for the roadmap milestones, but will also account for the specific barriers that some may face. Support will be available for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprises (VCSEs) at each stage of the roadmap. Further information for the 2023 milestone is included in the NHS Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP) guidance.
NHS Clinical Waste Strategy
NHS England has recently published the NHS Clinical Waste Strategy to support NHS providers in making the necessary step change in waste management practices. The strategy, when implemented, aims to reduce future waste volumes and lead to a 30% reduction in carbon emissions. To access the NHS Clinical Waste Strategy documentation, please click here.
If you would like any further support or guidance about accessing any of NHS England’s SSV support material, please click here to contact the NOE CPC Support Desk.