ENERGY EFFICIENCY
NHS Supply Chain chief executive offi cer Nick Gerrard says that being green doesn’t cost the earth. In
today’s climate, trusts are under- standably focusing on their bottom
line in an ongoing struggle to reduce costs and maximise effi ciencies. As a result of the necessary cutbacks being made across the NHS, it’s become easy for areas such as sustainability to lose focus. NHS Sup- ply Chain’s upcoming sustainability report demonstrates that this doesn’t have to be the case, with sustainable savings possible across every NHS trust.
In the report, NHS Supply Chain will evi- dence how they’ve managed to cut emis- sions year-on-year and lower the usage of natural resources, such as gas and water. This has been achieved by implement- ing long-term sustainable solutions which can generate signifi cant savings across the NHS.
However, this is only the tip of the iceberg. NHS Supply Chain has invested heavily in sustainable solutions in procurement, resources and logistics to help NHS trusts meet their own sustainability agendas.
Nick Gerrard, Chief Executive Offi cer of NHS Supply Chain, says: “Our aim is to reduce any adverse environmental and so- cial impacts occurring during the life-cycle of the products and services procured and supplied by us, ensuring a sustainable solu- tion for the NHS.
“We aim to promote and maintain high standards of social, ethical and environ- mental conduct across our procurement activities and work with our suppliers to adopt a similar responsible approach to- ward sustainable procurement.”
Over the past few years, government focus on sustainability has stepped up a gear. Several initiatives have been introduced emphasising the importance of investing in sustainable solutions within trusts, such as the NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy and the QIPP agenda. Sustainable savings can be achieved through greater fi nancial vis-
62 | national health executive Jul/Aug 11
ibility and more effi cient use of resources throughout the procurement process.
It’s been documented that the NHS cur- rently has a carbon footprint of 18 million tonnes of CO2 per year; and NHS procure- ment contributes over 60% towards this total. Despite effi ciencies that have been made in the past decade, external factors such as the ageing population have placed a greater strain on NHS resources and encouraged an upward trend in carbon emissions growth through increased pro- curement activity. This reinforces the fact that sustainable procurement needs to be high on the agenda for all NHS trusts and healthcare organisations.
Additionally, the recent National Audit Of- fi ce (NAO) report surrounding the procure- ment of consumables by NHS trusts high- lighted several areas of ineffi ciency. The reliance of trusts on multiple, low-value orders and a lack of cross-trust co-ordina- tion when purchasing basic consumables results in unnecessary costs that could be avoided by using a more effective procure- ment route, such as NHS Supply Chain.
Gerrard said: “Our contracts enable trusts to maximise savings by aggregating spend with other trusts. Ultimately, this allows them to achieve the best value for money and meet their own, individual targets in a way that reduces CO2 generation.”
Royal Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust worked with NHS Sup- ply Chain to work out the carbon effi ciency of deliveries from NHS Supply Chain com- pared to those from other suppliers.
Following a study conducted by the trust in June 2010, almost three quarters of trust orders were shown to be delivered through nine scheduled deliveries from NHS Sup- ply Chain, with the remaining quarter ar- riving on 139 unscheduled weekly deliver- ies from other suppliers. Not only was this signifi cantly increasing the carbon foot-
print of the trust – but it was also creat- ing congestion on the trust’s single loading bay, reducing the effi ciency of the entire delivery process.
To provide an accurate comparison be- tween NHS Supply Chain’s delivery capa- bilities and those of other suppliers, NHS Supply Chain worked with the procure- ment team at Royal Liverpool University Hospital to capture data over a ‘typical week’ of operations. The results provided an estimate of 53.59 tonnes of C02 per year across the trusts deliveries – 43% gen- erated by NHS Supply Chain, who supply three-quarters of volume, and 57% by oth- er suppliers responsible for the remaining quarter of deliveries.
This demonstrates that NHS Supply Chain is almost four times more carbon-effi cient than other suppliers, generating 20g of CO2 per delivery, compared to 77g through direct supply.
By consolidating deliveries through the NHS Supply Chain route, the trust is see- ing a signifi cant reduction in both carbon emissions and congestion. What’s more, the trust has also achieved back offi ce sav- ings through order and invoice consolida- tion, freeing up staff time to deliver what’s important – frontline patient care.
“Our ultimate goal is to have buyers and ac- count managers who ensure sustainability is an integral part of the procurement pro- cess. By doing this we can make a measure- able difference on the impact that we have not only on our sup- ply chain but on the world around us,” concludes Gerrard.
Nick Gerrard
FOR MORE INFORMATION For more information on NHS Supply Chain’s Sustainability Report, email
sustainability@supplychain.nhs.uk
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