How NHS procurement is turning spend into local impact
At our 20th Anniversary celebration event on 17 September in London, we heard from Lizzie Smith, Chief People Officer at NHS England about how NHS LPP has supported NHS organisations in London to use their purchasing power not only to deliver value for money, but to create wider economic, social and environmental benefits for London.
As a member of the London Anchor Institutions Network (LAIN), NHS LPP has taken up the Mayor of London’s challenge for anchor institutions to direct 20% of addressable spend towards local SME supply chains.
To help measure progress, NHS LPP create an annual benchmark showing how much NHS trust spend is staying within London by contracting with local SMEs. Since 2022, the figures show local SME spend increasing from £256 million spend, to £616 million representing 12.5% of addressable spend in 2025.
But social value goes much more beyond where money is spent.
To coincide with the release of PPN 06/20 mandating the inclusion of Social Value as an awarding criterion in applicable tenders, NHS LPP created a Social Value Toolkit for its members which has helped London trusts translate supplier commitments into measurable impacts that can be monitored throughout the life of a contract. Our tracked portfolio now covers around 100 awarded contracts, worth c.£550 million with c.£75 million of supplier social value commitments recorded across four key areas:
- tackling economic inequality through jobs and local SME spend
- reducing carbon emissions
- improving health and wellbeing, and
- creating more equal opportunities
By helping procurement teams identify local needs and building these into procurements so that they can then monitor what suppliers actually deliver, NHS LPP is helping turn procurement spend into measurable local impact.
This also demonstrates the wider potential of anchor institutions: using public spending strategically to strengthen local economies, tackle inequalities and support healthier, more resilient communities. As NHS LPP marks 20 years, this is another example of how procurement can deliver value far beyond the contract itself.
If you would like to find out more about turning your procurements into measurable commitments to support your local community, please get in touch with our Sustainability and Social Value team for an informal conversation.