Health Alliance, New Zealand

HealthAlliance is a company that was established by Counties Manukau and Waitemata District Health Boards, to provide shared services to those DHBs.  One of the key services the organisation provides is procurement and supply chain management.  TNS advisor Simon Harvey was recently engaged by Horst Fischer, Head of Procurement and Supply Chain, to work with his team at Health Alliance to begin developing a sustainable procurement framework.

Horst’s interest in developing a sustainable procurement framework has been driven partly as a result of influence from the Govt³ programme, as is the case for a growing array of public sector organisations.  Horst was looking for an overarching sustainability framework that could provide his team with guidance at a “principles” level to ensure it would provide ongoing flexibility, be strategically focused, and cover the full ambit of goods and services that HealthAlliance deals with on a daily basis.  TNS fitted the description of a valuable solution to this challenge and the whole team was lead through two practically focused half day workshops in August and September 2008.

What became clear as the team gained greater depth of understanding about a systems-approach to implementing sustainable practices was that relationships with suppliers were critical, particularly because the supply base of medical products to New Zealand is so very thin.  The team recognised that it was important to cultivate the supplier relationships and build their own understanding of sustainability, so that they could then work together with them, for better overall outcomes. In New Zealand it isn’t as simple as just dumping or switching suppliers in favour of more sustainable options because often there is so little, if any, choice.

The project has been a resounding success with the materials management team now sharing a common understanding of what sustainability is all about as well as a shared perspective and language through the TNS Framework to provide structure for ongoing discussions and thinking.   The next step is likely to involve working closely with a number of suppliers in key product areas to gauge their ability to work with HealthAlliance for more sustainable outcomes; and to look at establishing a policy document to guide more sustainable procurement activity over the longer-term. Simon Harvey will be working further with HealthAlliance in 2009 to help drive that work forward and bring a TNS perspective as the project progresses.