Whilst there is an NHS Supplier Road Map that requires that suppliers meet a specified number of green credentials and “sets out the steps suppliers must take to align with the NHS net zero ambition through to 2030”, NHS library services do not even make nationwide resource purchases that are above £5m, which is the bar set for applying the supplier requirements. However, we can still make use of the existing Net Zero and Sustaina- ble Procurement Programme resources as a starting point, and also use our collec- tive influence with library related sup- pliers such as publishers and e-resource providers.


Library teams can also take responsible actions to reduce their library carbon footprint such as reuse and recycling alongside greener procurement. Many of our actions in the library envi- ronment have been common practice for some time. We recycle our paper, print less and turn off computers to save on energy. These actions save money as well as energy, so any small thing we can do to reduce our carbon footprint is a win-win. However, environmentally sustainable products can be more expensive than the not so eco-friendly alternatives.


How to use the toolkit


The toolkit provides links to resources to aid decision making for sustainable procurement.


l If you are interested in learning about green libraries and sustainability in general, there are weblinks to articles, books and other documents;


l links to key procurement documents (currently NHS focused) provide you with a starting point of how sustainable procure- ment is being approached within the NHS and the guidance that you can follow;


l if you do not have a big budget and need new shelving, there is a case study on how library shelving was reused;


l there is a checklist to follow when considering a greener purchase for your library service;


l use the Padlet link in the toolkit to make any content suggestions.


The toolkit is an open-source document that can be contributed to by members of the Sustainability in KLS Community of Practice and will be regularly reviewed and updated. The toolkit is hosted on the NHS Futures Collaboration Platform for Sustainability in NHS KLS Community of Practice workspace. Adding to the toolkit is very much encouraged by all NHS Library staff, enabling best practice and the do-once and share principle.


There was obviously going to be a lot of content going into it and I did not want it to become an unwieldy document so I had to think about how I could present it in small sections. I created a plan and a structure


40 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL


using MS Notes which is great for organ- ising information, whatever format it is in, and easily retrievable too. The structure then allowed me to create the toolkit in the form of a power point slide presentation. To allow for direct access to each slide, I created a contents page and hyperlinked each slide from it. Additionally, each page has a link that will jump you right back to the table of contents without having to scroll through the slides.


“It’s helped ask the right questions of sup- pliers and directed me to external resources to ensure I’m making procurement decisions based on the triple bottom line of planet, people, and profit. I’ve referred to it at renewals time and when weighing-up new suppliers and look forward to seeing how the community help develop it further.” – Adam Tocock,


Librarian, Whittington Hospital


Hosting the document on the NHS England website was not an option as restrictions would prevent the toolkit from being easily accessed for updating purposes by the community. As the ownership of the doc- ument would be held by the membership of the group it was decided that the group membership workspace was the solution to this. If you were replicating the toolkit then you would need to investigate your own organisation’s policies. Using the toolkit is not a requirement by NHS England, so it has been hard to gauge how useful it has been. Time and financial constraints make it very difficult to promote something that isn’t mandatory and the buy-in will be from people who are already on-board.


Purchasing is nationally driven through various frameworks which puts a restraint on how much freedom of supplier and prod- uct choice libraries actually have. Each indi- vidual NHS Trust will also be locked down to using preferred suppliers and quite often you cannot buy the actual product that you want but have to substitute it for something similar. As you are probably aware, the NHS is struggling financially, when it comes to


greener purchasing the most eco-friendly product will often cost more, which creates a conflict.


Next steps


The toolkit is currently incomplete and there are blank slides that need populating. This is the first iteration (with a few small content additions and format tweaks) that requires testing to ensure it meet the needs of the community and so it will evolve through evaluation.


I was given permission to share a group member’s NHS Supplier Ranking Spread- sheet within the toolkit and it is also shared on the Community of Practice workspace. The spreadsheet was last updated in 2022 and the next step is to share the updating work with members of the group or discuss at one of our quarterly meetings. The toolkit will have a Creative Commons license that will allow sharing and adapta- tion for local purposes. I am interested to learn from how other library sectors have interpreted it and taken it forward to use in their own organisations.


If you have any questions or content sug- gestions, please contact me at lucy.gilham@ hhft.nhs.uk IP


References


Delivering a net zero National Health Service (www.england.nhs. uk/greenernhs/a-net-zero-nhs/)


Greener NHS » Suppliers (www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/get-in- volved/suppliers/)


Greener NHS Knowledge Hub (an NHS only workspace) Health and Care Act 2022 (www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/31/ contents/enacted)


Knowledge for Healthcare Strategy 2021 – 2026 (https://library. nhs.uk/our-work/strategy/knowledge-for-healthcare-mobilising-evi- dence-sharing-knowledge-improving-outcomes/)


NHS England » Evergreen sustainable supplier assessment (www.england.nhs.uk/nhs-commercial/sustainability/evergreen/)


NHS England » NHS Social Value Playbook (www.england.nhs. uk/publication/nhs-social-value-playbook/)


NHS Hampshire Healthcare Library Service – Sustainability in Healthcare bulletins (www.hantshealthcarelibrary.nhs.uk/sustainabili- ty-in-healthcare-bulletins.asp)


Sustainability in NHS Knowledge and Library Services - Futures (an NHS only workspace)


Sustainable NHS Supplier Ranking spreadsheet created by Samuel Stormont (an NHS only workspace)


The Net Zero and Sustainable Procurement Programme (www.england.nhs.uk/nhs-commercial/sustainability/)


Winter 2025


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