The East Anglian Clinical Waste Collaborative is a group of 8 Trusts across 2 ICSs, cooperatively tendering their clinical waste requirements. Within the Norfolk and Waveney ICS, the Trusts in collaboration, include:
- East Coast Community Healthcare CIC
- James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Norfolk & Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
- Norfolk Community Health & Care NHS Trust
- Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust
Within the Suffolk and Norfolk East Essex ICS, the Trusts are:
- East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust
- West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
The Hub is facilitating collaboration between the trusts and by amalgamating spends, we will ensure that suppliers provide the best value for money in the following areas:
- Commercials – By increasing economies of scale suppliers, we can reduce costs, such as, overheads and costs associated with bidding, and to produce savings for the trusts on a like-for-like service when procured separately.
- Patient Care - Several trusts will use the service for collection from private homes, which will allow nurses to leave waste after a visit and for collection by supplier. For James Paget, this will increase the number of visits a staff member can make in a day from 9 to 11 as they do not need to go back to base to dispose of waste. This service may not prove cost effective for a single trust, but with multiple trusts requiring the same service, it will be. As a result, this will provide a benefit to the trust and the patients they serve.
- Innovation – Trusts are given value for money as suppliers can plan for greater investment in innovation due to the higher contract value. The trusts also benefit as innovations that were not cost effective for one trust alone can be reconsidered as a whole collaborative. Examples of this include the on-site melting of single use plastics into briquettes that are easier and cheaper to transport and recycle or turning waste into floc on-site. As a result, this ensures waste is easier and cheaper to transport and recycle.
- Contract Management – A joint and cohesive approach to contract management will deliver value for money by giving the collective greater influence on securing better outcomes and adherence to standards and the specification, as well as requiring less resource from each individual trust in the process.
- Sustainability – Better innovation, investment and contract management will lead to the trust obtaining a more sustainable service.
If you need any support facilitating collaboration for waste requirements, please do not hesitate to get in touch on estates&digital@eoecph.nhs.uk.
