Last week we commented on the CIPS SM Awards and the shortlisted entries for the Sustainability Project of the Year. Should the awards recognise grand strategies and long-term ambitions, or smaller-scale initiatives that actually deliver more immediate benefits? That was the question we asked, based on the disappointment suffered by the UK National Health Service (NHS) Black Country Alliance (BCA) procurement team, who weren’t shortlisted despite being leaders in how the NHS is implementing carbon reduction on the journey to net zero.
Having asked that question last time, we promised to feature more of the submission. So here are the highlights – our edited version of the BCA entry.
SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT OF THE YEAR
The climate emergency is a health emergency and Black Country Alliance (BCA) Procurement team recognise that the products we procure, along with the emissions and waste they create, are negatively impacting population and planetary health. We are absolutely committed to delivering net zero targets, and have placed ourselves at the forefront of NHS procurement to tackle this existential threat. Our aim was to embed sustainable procurement into business as usual, a thread that runs through everything we do.
We have developed a robust procurement sustainability strategy and SMART plan that feeds into both our organisations Green Plans, signed off and tracked at Board level. We have embedded this way of working and thinking into our contract management structures, processes and tender documentation, our clinical product evaluation groups, decision making processes, and business planning for the wider organisations we serve.
We have set up meet the buyer events as part of the local business enterprises and chamber of commerce, with a focus on improving local / SMEs access to selling to us, keeping supplier and manufacturer closer to home. While the BCA cannot control scope 3 emissions directly, we are using our purchasing power to influence change. By working closely with our suppliers, our clinical stakeholders, and wider Integrated Care Systems networks we are influencing and educating everyone to consider how they can contribute more to our collective commitment to NHS net zero emissions.
As a result of the strategy and plan, we have seen many improvements both in the governance processes and the way we do business, through to more sustainable products, less waste and reduced carbon emissions as a result. Examples of progress this year:
Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA)
We have embedded an SIA into every procurement decision making process to identify where the product / service we are considering may adversely or positively impact on our commitment to net zero. This has also meant we have a proxy measure of the changes we are implementing while the metrics for scope 3 are being developed nationally. We did not want to lose our progress while we wait for the metrics to come out, and indeed are involved in developing the metrics with NHSEI.
Recycled Paper
We have moved both organisations to recycled paper, this has saved the equivalent of over 41,000 6 foot Christmas trees, saving 2 Olympic size swimming pools worth of water, and reducing energy use equivalent to taking 16 small cars off the road for a year.
Nasal Cannula Oxygen tubing
We found a nasal cannula oxygen tubing that weighed less than our previous devices and used the SIA to evidence a reduction in clinical waste of 905kg and a saving per year of £3500 per year, as well as it being a more comfortable product for patients reducing the risk of pressure damage to the nasal cleft.
Syringes and Safety Hypodermics (Appendix 2)
We used the SIA to analyse a potential cost improvement offer (£15,000) from another supplier. We identified that moving to their products would create an additional 2 tons of single use plastic waste as each syringe and packaging weighed between 1-2g more. In addition, transport emissions would have been at least 4 times greater as the product was manufactured in China rather than Germany. This is the first example in the NHS where a cost saving has been rejected based on the sustainability impact it would have had. (My italics - this is a really important point and will be a key issue in coming years! Peter Smith)
Intravenous Extension sets (appendix 3)
With strong clinical engagement we have identified products that are almost identical but may be cheaper as well as saving on plastic waste. In this example a consultant anaesthetist found a 2g difference between very similar products and the switch saved 12kg of waste and almost £3,000 saving in just one department.
Category Management gateway documents
By embedding the SIA and social value questions into our documentation, we are challenging potential suppliers from the outset to evidence their commitment to net zero, and to working with us their customer to improve over the life of any awarded contracts.
ICS collaboration
Our clinical procurement nurse has set up Integrated Care System meetings with 6 other local organisations to share sustainable procurement project plans, outputs and to reduce work effort. One trust is focusing on wound care, while BCA focus on moving to reusable PPE.
Next Projects
BCA are moving both Trusts to reusable colour coded theatre caps from single use viscose which will save waste, money, and reduce the water use, chemical release into the environments where the viscose is sourced, and also significantly reduce transport emissions. This will save 300,000 single use items from incineration per year.
So, what do you think? Should BCA have been shortlisted by the judging panel? Was their entry too “tactical” ? Or is it more meaningful than “getting suppliers to sign up to a 2030 net zero plan”?