Distribution Network
Content
Companies tendering for supply contracts from the National Health Service in England will have to provide information on their sustainability performance under new procurement guidelines.
The Sustainable Procurement Strategy, due out at the end of this month, will apply to all suppliers interested in working with the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency, which manages more than 3000 NHS national supply contracts and controls an annual procurement budget of about £4billion ($7bn).
The new strategy will also inform the individual procurement policies of England’s 400 NHS trusts and health authorities. It covers issues ranging from race equality to corruption and also for the first time introduces a CSR weighting into the tender process. The agency is proposing to ask all bidders for supply contracts whether they have:
a published CSR policy
senior managers with direct responsibilities for this area of the business
regular talks with stakeholders
adequate monitoring systems.
The responses will help to decide who wins the tender – the CSR weighting represents five per cent of the total tender evaluation. Standard procurement considerations of price, quality and reliability make up the remaining 95 per cent.
‘The benefit is that the NHS is still getting the goods and services that are required, but we are making a greater contribution to society than if we were not including sustainable development criteria,’ said Darian McBain, head of policy at the agency, whose procurement practices to date have been governed by a set of less demanding sustainability policies. ‘The new strategy gathers up all the areas of work and policy streams that are impacting on procurement and sets out a framework for the next few years,’ said McBain.
The change is intended to bring NHS purchasing practices into line with broader government objectives. The UK government’s sustainable development strategy introduced in March 2005 requires all departments to develop a comprehensive sustainable procurement policy.
As part of efforts to entrench sustainable procurement principles at regional and local levels, the agency is piloting three ‘collaborative procurement hubs’ in Manchester, Shropshire, and the West Midlands. The health authorities involved are seeking efficiency savings in line with the agency’s environmental and social procurement principles.
The agency will continue to organize training and awareness programmes for the NHS. In 2005 it ran a training programme for NHS trust procurement managers in conjunction with Bath University’s Centre for Research in Strategic Purchasing and Supply. The training consisted of both online modules and site visits.
The agency will report on overall progress in its third annual sustainability report, due out in September. The total NHS procurement budget represents 13.6 per cent of the £125billion ($220bn) that the UK government spends on suppliers annually.
The Sustainable Procurement Strategy, due out at the end of this month, will apply to all suppliers interested in working with the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency, which manages more than 3000 NHS national supply contracts and controls an annual procurement budget of about £4billion ($7bn).
The new strategy will also inform the individual procurement policies of England’s 400 NHS trusts and health authorities. It covers issues ranging from race equality to corruption and also for the first time introduces a CSR weighting into the tender process. The agency is proposing to ask all bidders for supply contracts whether they have:
a published CSR policysenior managers with direct responsibilities for this area of the businessregular talks with stakeholdersadequate monitoring systems.The responses will help to decide who wins the tender – the CSR weighting represents five per cent of the total tender evaluation. Standard procurement considerations of price, quality and reliability make up the remaining 95 per cent.
‘The benefit is that the NHS is still getting the goods and services that are required, but we are making a greater contribution to society than if we were not including sustainable development criteria,’ said Darian McBain, head of policy at the agency, whose procurement practices to date have been governed by a set of less demanding sustainability policies. ‘The new strategy gathers up all the areas of work and policy streams that are impacting on procurement and sets out a framework for the next few years,’ said McBain.
The change is intended to bring NHS purchasing practices into line with broader government objectives. The UK government’s sustainable development strategy introduced in March 2005 requires all departments to develop a comprehensive sustainable procurement policy.
As part of efforts to entrench sustainable procurement principles at regional and local levels, the agency is piloting three ‘collaborative procurement hubs’ in Manchester, Shropshire, and the West Midlands. The health authorities involved are seeking efficiency savings in line with the agency’s environmental and social procurement principles.
The agency will continue to organize training and awareness programmes for the NHS. In 2005 it ran a training programme for NHS trust procurement managers in conjunction with Bath University’s Centre for Research in Strategic Purchasing and Supply. The training consisted of both online modules and site visits.
The agency will report on overall progress in its third annual sustainability report, due out in September. The total NHS procurement budget represents 13.6 per cent of the £125billion ($220bn) that the UK government spends on suppliers annually.
Super Featured
No
Featured
No