Background
As Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust’s (EPUT) current waste management contract was coming to an end, the trust, which had a single supplier for all three waste streams (general waste and recycling, clinical, hazardous and radioactive waste and confidential waste) wanted to open up the opportunity to award the individual streams to separate suppliers. As well with being in line with NHS England guidance, this would encourage more competitive bids and enable a range of changes to the contract, such as the inclusion of sustainability initiatives to support the EPUT’s journey towards NHS Net Zero.
The project
The Trust worked with the Hub’s Estates team to evaluate the best route to market, opting to use the Waste Management DPS. We worked with stakeholders to prepare tender documentation, provided training sessions for evaluators that were new to the process and chaired moderation sessions. The size and nature of EPUT’s estate brought about significant challenges for this project; the trust has over 200 sites to support a population of more than 3.2 million people, with around one third of those locations included in the tender. Gathering, collating and validating information from all of the in-scope sites was one of the main difficulties, and our Estates team provided resource to review and sense check information, as well as identify gaps in data.
The support provided by the Hub on this project was invaluable; their commitment, knowledge and skill played a large role in the delivery of the tender.
Patrick (Pereira)’s support was integral to the success of this project. We found the training sessions he ran for the evaluation panel were useful to ensure evaluators fully understood what was required of them and how to best complete their evaluations. It also provided the Trust with peace of mind that the award of these contracts could withstand any potential scrutiny during the standstill period.
Tom Toolan, Head of Sustainability
Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust
The outcome
The project was successfully awarded, with contracts going to a different supplier for each waste stream. A saving of roughly £100K per year was delivered, as well as a range of measures that will improve the Trust’s social value contribution and reduce their carbon footprint.