@UK helps NHS identify its carbon hotspots

RNS Number : 8612S

@UK PLC

06 December 2012

@UK PLC

("@UK" or the "Company")

@UK helps NHS identify its carbon hotspots

@UK PLC (AIM:ATUK.L), the cloud ecommerce marketplace, is pleased to announce that it has completed the NHS Carbon Hotspots Report with NHS Shared Business Services and NHS Sustainable Development Unit.  The report helps to deliver the NHS target of reducing consumption by 10% by 2015.  The same methodology could be applied to other government departments to achieve the 1-2% efficiency savings set out by the Chancellor in yesterday's autumn statement.

Research in 2010 by NHS Sustainable Development Unit showed the NHS carbon footprint was dominated by procurement with 65% of the footprint attributed to the goods and services procured.

The NHS Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) in partnership with NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS), @UK and a number of NHS trusts, publishes the latest report on carbon footprinting focussing specifically on the procurement of goods and services. 

This research also supports the NHS in understanding the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012¹, which requires public services to consider taking into account economic, social and environmental value, not just price, when commissioning and buying goods and services.

The study identifies carbon hotspots in the supply chain comparing the carbon contribution of 18 categories of goods and services against six different NHS organisation types (acute, primary care and community services, mental health, ambulance services, specialist services and Strategic Health Authorities).

Key findings of the study include: 

Pharmaceuticals are 22% of the NHS England carbon footprint of which:

-     79% is primary care and community services

-     13% is acute services and 5% is mental health services

Medical instruments are 13% of the NHS England carbon footprint of which:

-     75% is acute services

-     13% is primary care and community services

Building energy use (gas and electricity) is 18% of the NHS England carbon footprint of which: 

-     72% is in acute services

-     51% of which is electricity consumption

-     45% of which is gas consumption

For ambulance services fleet vehicles, gas and electricity together make up 55% of the carbon footprint from goods, services and building energy use.

David Pencheon, Director, NHS Sustainable Development Unit, says:

"The study allows organisations to identify where to focus in order to reduce both costs and carbon supporting the NHS's drive to reduce carbon emissions by 10% by 2015.  The results show the importance of pharmaceuticals, medical instruments and energy sectors.  Guidance on addressing carbon through procurement is already available through the P4CR programme which aims to reduce emissions associated with goods and services through demand management and adoption of innovative solutions."

David Wathey, Head of Sustainable Procurement, Department of Health, says:

"Understanding where to start in trying to reduce carbon through procurement has proved to be a significant challenge for the NHS given the large and diverse range of goods and services procured. This study builds on the work of the P4CR programme, such as the SCO2PE tool, and provides greater clarity, for different types of NHS organisation, on where to focus their efforts."

Peter Akid, Managing Director of NHS SBS Commercial Procurement Solutions,says:

"NHS Shared Business Services and @UK have been working together for a number of years to support the NHS in understanding its spend activity.  We are delighted to be able to put this capability to further use in helping the NHS SDU heighten awareness of the NHS's carbon footprint.  We are also very pleased to be part of this national programme which we hope will be integral in helping reduce the carbon footprint across the NHS."

Ronald Duncan, Chairman of @UK says:

"The ability to automatically identify the individual items that make up a hotspot makes it much easier for trusts using the P4CR program to reduce demand and wastage of the items that make up the hot spot.  This simplifies the process of reducing the overall usage by 10% by 2015."

The full report is available on the NHS Sustainable Development Unit website:

http://www.sdu.nhs.uk/

Procuring for Carbon Reduction (P4CR) Workbook available on the SDU website: http://www.sdu.nhs.uk/corporate-requirements/interventions/procurement.aspx

@UK's GreenInsight is available at http://www.green-insight.com/

Footnote:

^[1]Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012. Available at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2012/3/pdfs/ukpga_20120003_en.pdf

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Enquiries:

Notes to editors

This cutting edge analysis is aligned with the latest guidance on carbon footprinting including the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and Defra guidance for estimating the carbon footprint from the supply chain.

NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) has the largest database of NHS spend in England.  With @UK utilising a technical breakthrough in Artificial Intelligence we are together able to automatically analyse this data - providing the NHS with the most robust analysis into this area ever seen.

The NHS is already implementing guidance on sustainable procurement using the Procuring for Carbon Reduction (P4CR) Workbook which provides advice on procurement interventions and engaging with suppliers.

Leading NHS organisations are already considering the whole carbon footprint from procurement, this report provides the opportunity for all organisations to quantify the impact of more sustainable products, and move towards a sustainable, low carbon and resilient supply chain.

The NHS Sustainable Development Unit

The NHS SDU is a dedicated national unit set up to coordinate and stimulate sustainable development systematically across the NHS.  It provides leadership and helps develop organisations, people, tools, policy and research to ensure the NHS fulfils its potential as a leading sustainable and low carbon organisation.

www.sdu.nhs.uk

NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS)

NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) is the market leader in business support services for the NHS currently working with more than 50% of all NHS Trusts and organisations.

NHS SBS provide Commercial Procurement, Finance & Accounting, Payroll & HR and Family Health Services, delivering operational efficiencies and cost savings.

NHS SBS employ over 1,500 people, process £43 billion of NHS payments each year, pay 200,000 NHS employees and recover more than £14 billion of NHS debt for our clients.

Our leading edge technology and reporting solutions mean that we are able to deliver a single financial platform for the NHS Commissioning Board providing financial services for 211 clinical commissioning groups and 23 commissioning support units from April 2013.

NHS SBS is a joint venture between the Department of Health and Steria and is on target to deliver £224 million of cost savings to the NHS by 2014.

For further information, please contact to Monica Owen on 07970 052 965, monica.owen@sbs.nhs.uk

www.sbs.nhs.uk

@UK

@UK is Europe's leading Cloud Platform with over 1 million users, which is used for University and College's procurement along with NHS, Local Authority, Schools and other Government and Private sector procurement.

@UK's GreenInsight software was developed in conjunction with University of Reading and Goldsmiths' College London.  Two of the participants were awarded PhD's in Artificial Intelligence for the ability to automatically identify and classify products.  4 Professors supported the development of the solution, which is able to automatically analyse an organisations spend and save both cash and carbon.

http://www.green-insight.com

@UK is included in the Software and Computer Services Sector (9530). 

For further information please visit the @UK PLC websites

Investor Site http://www.uk-plc.net/invest

Main Site http://www.uk-plc.net

SpendInsight Site http://www.spendinsight.com

GreenInsight Site http://www.green-insight.com

Hybrid Carbon Footprint Site http://www.hybridcarbonfootprint.com

Cloud-Start-Up.com http://cstartup.com

2012StartUp.com http://www.2012Startup.com

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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