Here’s what happens when you stop accepting “that’s how we’ve always done it”

Sometimes the biggest breakthroughs come from the simplest questions.

For Hampshire Hospitals and Wessex Procurement Ltd, that question was: “Why do all our deliveries arrive on the same days?”

The answer to that question has just saved them 972kg of CO₂ annually, cut delivery vehicles by 30%, and actually made life easier for their staff.

(Spoiler: When sustainability makes operations smoother, you know you’re onto something special.)

The Sustainability Story

Let’s be honest. When most NHS Trusts hear “emissions reduction project,” they brace for impact. More costs. More complexity. More meetings about meetings.

Hampshire flipped that script entirely.

Working with NHS Supply Chain and guided by EMSOL’s precision monitoring, they discovered their delivery trucks were following a peculiar pattern. Peak days saw 34 cages arriving – so many they needed a second vehicle. Meanwhile, quiet days had just 12 cages rattling around in half-empty trucks.

The emissions data helped make it crystal clear: this wasn’t just inefficient. It was unnecessary.

“Sustainability is not an option; it’s a responsibility,” says Mark Wilks, Chief Supplies Officer at Wessex Procurement Ltd.

But here’s where it gets interesting. Mark continues: “We’ve seen additional benefits. Reduced man-hours handling goods, fewer deliveries within the hospital, better planning by those ordering ward stock. All in all, a very positive outcome by all involved.”

But here’s the crucial bit that made this all possible – knowing which trucks were causing the problem.

Traditional air quality monitoring tells you pollution is happening. EMSOL’s precision monitoring with integrated camera analytics showed Hampshire exactly which delivery vehicles were causing emission spikes. Not just “there’s high NO₂ at 9am” but “this specific supplier’s truck idling for 20 minutes is causing that spike.”

Without this source attribution, Hampshire would have been shooting in the dark. You can’t fix what you can’t identify. EMSOL’s technology connected each emission spike to its specific cause – transforming vague sustainability goals into targeted, actionable changes.

This is why the solution worked so quickly. When you know exactly which deliveries are causing problems, you can fix the schedule. When you can prove which changes reduce emissions, you get buy-in from suppliers. When you measure the actual impact, you can refine and improve.

The Numbers Tell a Story (And It’s a Good One)

In just three months:

• Delivery vehicles dropped from 59 to 41 per month – that’s 30% fewer trucks
• 338 fewer cage movements through hospital corridors
• Delivery days consolidated from 326 to 96 monthly
• 972kg projected annual CO₂ reduction

But numbers only tell half the story.

Andy Whincup, Sustainable Travel Manager at Hampshire Hospitals, puts it perfectly: “Fewer deliveries means our patients, visitors and staff are breathing cleaner air around the hospital.”

How Did It Happen

No million-pound systems. No disruption to critical supplies. No complicated new processes that require a PhD to understand.

Here’s what they actually did:

September 2024: EMSOL’s monitoring revealed exactly when and where emissions spiked. NHS Supply Chain’s Network Optimisation team dove into the delivery data. Wessex Procurement mapped out their requisition points.

October 2024: They spread deliveries evenly across the week. Created hospital zones for smarter distribution. Built in flexibility for urgent needs.

November 2024 onwards: Watched it work. Even through winter pressures.

Ian Steggles from Wessex Procurement captured it beautifully: “You can still achieve significant productivity improvement while maintaining a green identity.”

What This Means for Your Trust

Here’s the thing about breakthrough moments – they’re only breakthroughs for the first person. After that, they’re blueprints.

Hampshire has created a blueprint that any Trust can follow:

1. Start with real data – not assumptions about your emissions
2. The data can help highlight where your priorities should be
3. Collaborate with your suppliers – the NHS supply chain showed that suppliers are ready for these conversations
4. Implement gradually especially where there is operational risk to critical infrastructure like healthcare
5. Measure the impact… and prove it’s working and refine further

Hampshire isn’t stopping here. They’re rolling this out to Basingstoke. Reviewing their ordering processes for more opportunities. Engaging additional suppliers in the emissions reduction journey.

And other Trusts are taking notice. Because when you can tick multiple boxes with one elegant solution – Green Plan targets, operational efficiency, staff satisfaction, patient wellbeing – people pay attention.

Your Move

Every Trust has delivery trucks arriving daily. Every Trust has Green Plan targets to meet. Every Trust wants to improve efficiency without risking operations.

Hampshire just proved it’s possible to address all three with one coordinated effort.

The question isn’t whether your Trust could benefit from this approach. (It could.)

The question is whether you’ll be among the early adopters who shape the future of sustainable healthcare logistics, or whether you’ll be playing catch-up in a few years.

Ready to explore what’s possible at your Trust?

The story shows exactly how Hampshire achieved these results. NHS Supply Chain’s team is ready to support similar initiatives. And EMSOL can help you understand your current emissions baseline – but importantly identify where the pollution is coming from.

Hampshire just proved it is.

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