PROCUREMENT
In an environment of increasing community interest in sustainability, sustainable procurement has gained considerable momentum amongst practitioners over the past decade, and the health sector is no exception.
Sustainable procurement gaining momentum in healthcare Dr Jefferson Hopewell, B.Sc.(Hons), PhD(Qld), MSustPrac, Health Purchasing Victoria Sustainable Procurement Officer
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ustainable procurement has been a growing focus for healthcare services, including for Health Purchasing Victoria (HPV), which, since 2011, has increasingly integrated sustainability principles into its procurement processes undertaken on behalf of Victoria’s public hospitals. So how do you express sustainability in a procurement context? Sustainable procurement principles may be applied to procurement and purchasing decisions, and involve a combination of environmental, social or economic factors. The importance of using procurement to influence outcomes was highlighted by a 2001 study of the National Health Service’s
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‘ecological footprint’. It showed that close to 60% of the ecological footprint of hospital-based healthcare in England and Wales was generated within the supply chain.
Meanwhile, increasing numbers of health services are adopting a strategy to invest in on-site solar photovoltaic panels to reduce both their environmental impact and energy bills.
Locally, Victoria’s health services have long managed their energy and water consumption to reduce their costs and environmental impact. Health services’ energy efficiency efforts have stabilised energy consumption levels to around 4.6 petajoules per annum, despite activity growth of an average 5% per annum over the past decade, according to a 2015 report by the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
Regardless of the motivator, experience shows that integrating sustainability into procurement means responding to a range of complex stakeholder issues.
THE AUSTRALIAN HOSPITAL + HEALTHCARE BULLETIN
SUMMER 2017
It’s clear health service buyers and supply managers remain concerned about the impact on costs when considering social responsibility as an imperative, and must weigh up the benefits where direct cost savings cannot be demonstrated.
hospitalhealth.com.au