Net Zero - Leaders Debate Two: Sustainable Procurement

To achieve Net-zero the NHS must look at Scope 3 emissions, those emissions which aren't directly produced by the NHS trust but by procuring services and products which they use. Scope 3 includes water and waste, business travel (in the delivery of care) staff commuting, Pharmaceuticals and chemicals, medical equipment, non-medical equipment, business services, food and catering, and commissioned health services. A very challenging part of supply chain decarbonisation is Carbon Accounting, i.e. collecting baseline data from which to make changes as the supply chains are complex and you have to look at the whole system to understand properly. There is also now a legal requirement that when procuring a new product or service, and scoring potential suppliers when deciding who to give a contract to, there is a 10% mandatory social value weighting on that contract. Anecdotally, it’s been reported that a lot of buyers in the NHS are paying more than the cheapest possible price for their stuff because some companies can demonstrate their social value better than others. 60% of the average trusts carbon is from procurement (with building energy normally being less than 25% of the carbon footprint) 2027 all suppliers will be required to publicly report emissions and publish a carbon reduction plan aligned to the net zero NHS target, for both their direct and indirect emissions. There is a new roadmap developed by NHSE From April 2023: for all contracts above £5 million per annum, the NHS will require suppliers to publish a carbon reduction plan for their UK Scope 1 and 2 emissions and a subset of scope 3 emissions as a minimum (aligning with PPN 06/21). From April 2024: the NHS will extend the requirement for a carbon reduction plan to cover all procurements. From April 2027: all suppliers will be required to publicly report targets, emissions and publish a carbon reduction plan for global emissions aligned to the NHS net zero target, for all of their Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. From April 2028: new requirements will be introduced overseeing the provision of carbon foot printing for individual products supplied to the NHS. The NHS will work with suppliers and regulators to determine the scope and methodology. From 2030: suppliers will only be able to qualify for NHS contracts if they can demonstrate their progress through published progress reports and continued carbon emissions reporting through the Evergreen sustainable supplier assessment. John Wilson, UK Sales Manager, Vileda Professional Alexandra Hammond, Head of Sustainable Procurement and Supply Chain, NHS England Heidi Barnard, Head of Sustainability, NHS Supply Chain