Impact of Internal and External Factors on NHS Procurement

This document presents the table of contents and the introduction section of a dissertation focused on sustainable procurement within the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK. It begins by defining sustainable procurement and its importance, particularly within the healthcare sector. The document highlights the NHS's structure, principles, and the significance of sustainable procurement in its operations. The problem statement addresses the challenges of resource management and timely procurement in a competitive environment. The aims and objectives of the research include understanding sustainable procurement, evaluating internal and external factors affecting the NHS, examining challenges, and recommending improvements. The rationale emphasizes the need for effective procurement management to ensure timely resource availability, especially in emergency situations. The significance of the research is underscored by its relevance to the NHS, its competitors, and the researcher's personal interest. The dissertation structure outlines the chapters: introduction, literature review, research methodology, findings and discussion, and conclusion and recommendations. References include books, journals, and online sources related to sustainable procurement and NHS operations.

DISSERTATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Background.................................................................................................................................3
Problem statement.......................................................................................................................3
Aims and objectives....................................................................................................................4
Rationale.....................................................................................................................................4
Significance.................................................................................................................................5
Dissertation structure..................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background
The sustainable procurement is defined as a process through which the companies meet
for their need relating to goods and services needed to provide services to the consumers. It is an
act of adopting the social, economic and environmental factors at time of the management of raw
material within the company (Procurement, 2021). This sustainable procurement is of benefit to
the company as when the business complies with sustainable procurement then the mission of the
company is accomplished as the material is being procured by not harming the environment and
this makes the procurement more effective and efficient (Gelderman, Semeijn and Vluggen,
2017). The present research study is based over the health care setup NHS that is National Health
Service which is an umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare system. Since, the time of
1948 the company is being funded by the general taxation only. There are total of three setups
which combine makes the NHS that includes NHS in England, Scotland and the Wales (The
NHS, 2021). In addition to this above fact NHS work upon three principles which includes the
fact that it meets the need of everyone, it is free at the point of delivery and that it is based on the
clinical need of the person and not the ability to pay of the person.
The present research will discuss about the different types of internal and external factors
which affect the sustainable procurement within the health care set up that is at NHS. Further the
discussion will also include the understanding relating to the concept of sustainable procurement
and what is its significance. In addition to this the critical evaluation of different types of internal
and external factors will take place. Further the research will also outline some of the challenges
which affects the sustainable procurement will be discussed with respect to the NHS. This is
particularly important for the researcher to undertake the NHS as this will provide a clearer and
wider area for the study to be completed in successful and effective manner (Ahsan and Rahman,
2017).
Problem statement
In the current business environment, the competition is very high and the resources are very low.
Hence there is always the problem of management of resources and material and the
procurement within the company. hence, when the procurement will be late then the production

will be delayed resulting in the loss for the companies. Hence, this is the major problem which
involves the fact that procurement must be sustainable that is it will be beneficial for the future
as well. thus, the present research will disucss the problem that how sustainable procurement can
be managed and what are the external and internal factors affecting the procurement.
Aims and objectives
Aim
“To analyse impact of internal and external factors this affects the sustainable procurement
within UK health care sector. A study on NHS.”
Objectives
 To develop understanding relating to the concept of sustainable procurement
management and its significance.
 To critically evaluate the different internal and external factors that affects the
procurement and over supply chain at NHS.
 To examine the challenges relating to the use of sustainable procurement management
that hampers performance of company.
 To recommend some of the measures with which procurement management can be
effectively used.
Research question
1. What is the concept of sustainable procurement management along with its importance?
2. What are the different internal and external factors which affects the sustainable
procurement and supply chain of company?
3. What are the different challenges which affect effective use sustainable procurement
management of the company?
4. What are some of the recommendation which will assist company in improving
performance of company with respect to sustainable procurement management?
Rationale
In the current competitive world, it is very essential for the companies to have an
effective procurement management. This is particularly because of the reason that if the material
will not be made available on time then this will affect the working efficiency and effectiveness
of the company. Hence, for the companies it is very essential for them to manage their

procurement system and process so that material is being made available timely and work can be
done in required manner. In the present research the impact of internal and external factors
affecting the sustainable procurement within the UK health care sector will be analysed and
evaluated. In the present highly competitive environment, the competition is at its peak and for
every company it is essential to have the effective procurement management which stays for the
betterment of the company (De Soete and et.al., 2017). Hence, every company works in order to
manage the procurement but there are some factors which restrict them in managing procurement
system. Hence, the present research is based on analysing these factors and taking some measure
in managing the supply chain and procurement process.
Hence, this is the major reason for researcher to complete the study on NHS as in the
health care setup it is very necessary that all the required resources are being available on time.
This is particularly essential because of the reason that when the resources will be made
available on time then in case of any emergency the work or treatment can be started on the spot
and the people do not have to wait as they are not having the material to operate. In addition to
this when there will not be sustainable procurement then the resources will not be made available
on time and in case of emergency there might be problem faced by the companies. This can be
undertaken only with the help of the sustainable procurement only that the resources are being
made available on time and can be used in case of emergencies. Hence, for this reason it is very
essential to NHS that all the equipment and materials are timely available. In addition to this
another reason for conducting the present research over factors affecting sustainable procurement
is the personal and academic interest of the researcher themselves. This is particularly because of
the reason that researcher himself want to increase their knowledge relating to the different
internal and external factors which affects the procurement to a great extent.
Significance
In the current competitive environment there are many companies doing similar kind of
work and providing similar services to the consumers. hence, it is obvious that the resources
required by these same companies will also be similar. Thus, already the resources are very
limited and scare and if there will be many companies dealing in the same field then they will all
be requiring the same resources. Hence, this research is of significance to NHS as the study is
being conducted over the company. Thus, with help of this research the company will come to
know about different internal and external factors affect the sustainable procurement at NHS.

Therefore, with help of this research the company can make effective strategies so that the issue
or the factors affecting the procurement can be managed by NHS and this will be only possible
with help of this research (Mousa and Othman, 2020).
Hence, this research is of significance to NHS as with help of this they will get
knowledge relating to the factors which can affect their sustainable procurement and they can
make strategies to handle those factors. In addition to this, the present research is also of
significance to competitors of NHS like Integrated Care, GSI Health and many others. These
competitors can also use this fact and figures and can handles those factors in the similar manner
as suggested to NHS.
Dissertation structure
Chapter Description
Chapter 1- Introduction The chapter one involves the overview of the
research topic that is sustainable procurement.
This chapter deal with outlining the
background of the topic and the aim and
objective is relating to the concept of
sustainable procurement. In addition to this,
the present chapter will also outline the
rationale that is the reason behind the
selection of the sustainable procurement as
the research topic.
Chapter 2- Literature review The literature review is defined as the analysis
of the different types of the views and
opinions of different authors. This chapter
will outline the analysis of the different
secondary sources like books, journals and
other published sources relating to the internal
and external factors affecting the sustainable
procurement within the health care setup.
Chapter 3- Research methodology The next chapter deals with the methodology
of the research that is what methods will be

used in order to complete the research. In the
present completion of the study on analysing
the internal and external factors affecting the
sustainable procurement use of qualitative
study will be undertaken. This will be
selected for the reason that qualitative study
will outline the in depth analysis of the
research topic.
Chapter 4- Finding and discussion This is a chapter which relates to presentation
and analysis of the collected data so that some
meaningful inferences can be drawn from that
collected data. The data relating to analysis of
the internal and external factors affecting the
procurement will be collected. Hence, with
help of the thematic analysis the current
collected data will be analysed and evaluated
in order to draw some conclusion and
meaning from the analysed data.
Chapter 5- Conclusion and recommendation This is a chapter which deals with the
drawing of the conclusion from the analysed
data and finding, this is very essential for the
success of the research as if any conclusion
will not be drawn from the study then it will
be a waste of time and energy as there is not
any conclusion. Hence, after the analysis of
the finding the conclusion will be drawn as
whether the research was successful in
attaining their aim and objectives or not.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ahsan, K. and Rahman, S., 2017. Green public procurement implementation challenges in
Australian public healthcare sector. Journal of Cleaner Production, 152, pp.181-197.
De Soete, W., and et.al., 2017. Challenges and recommendations for environmental sustainability
assessments of pharmaceutical products in the healthcare sector. Green Chemistry,
19(15), pp.3493-3509.
Gelderman, C.J., Semeijn, J. and Vluggen, R., 2017. Development of sustainability in public
sector procurement. Public Money & Management, 37(6), pp.435-442.
Mousa, S.K. and Othman, M., 2020. The impact of green human resource management practices
on sustainable performance in healthcare organisations: A conceptual framework.
Journal of Cleaner Production, 243, p.118595.
Online
Structure of the NHS. 2021. [Online]. Available through: <
https://www.themedicportal.com/application-guide/the-nhs/structure-of-the-nhs/ >
NHS procurement. 2021. [Online]. Available through: <
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainers/nhs-procurement#:~:text=The
%20NHS%20buys%20a%20large,for%20some%20goods%20and%20services. >
The NHS. 2021. [Online]. Available through: < https://www.themedicportal.com/application-
guide/the-nhs/>
Procurement. 2021. [Online. Available through: <
https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/procurement/sustainable-procurement.html
>