SDU’s new sustainable development assessment tool

A new self-assessment tool has been developed in response to feedback on the Good Corporate Citizen tool - the new tool is imminent but we have been contacted by several organisations keen to start to get to grips with the new tool so we have released this basic excel version so new users of the tool can start working with colleagues to assess the statements.

Why a new tool?

The Unit had received lots of feedback on the tool; both positive and constructive which provided us with the view that it was a useful tool –in developing SDMPs and evaluating non-quantitative value and benefits from sustainability in the Health and care sector but was too long, the scoring wasn’t transparent and the statements were repetitive.

What is new about it?

The tool has a new structure; with 10 modules and four cross cutting themes that segment all the modules (see matrix below);

Modules; 'Corporate Approach', 'Asset Management & Utilities', 'Travel and Logistics', 'Adaptation', 'Capital Projects', 'Green Space & Biodiversity', 'Sustainable Care Models', 'Our People', 'Sustainable use of Resources' and 'Carbon / GHGs

Themes; 'Governance & Policy', 'Core responsibilities', 'Procurement and Supply chain' and 'Working with Staff, Patients & Communities'

Due to the changes in structure there is a new simplified scoring scheme which means that this tool won’t allow comparison against the old GCC scoring process – backward scoring was sacrificed to ensure a shorter and functional tool could be created. The SDU had a working group to support the development of the tool from a cross section of organisations representing the NHS and health sector.

The new statements are also aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) so you can see how your local action is supporting these important global goals.

There is also the option to answer the statements as “in progress” to give credit to organisation who have part fulfilled the requirements in the statement – we expected users to be at least 50% of the way to completion to use the “in progress” option rather than a “no” response.

How to use the spreadsheet

The spreadsheet allows users to start using the new tool before the online version is available – due in October. The SDU are hoping organisations will be able to submit a score in early December to help us tweak the tool and support data capture for the 2018 SDU Health check report.

The spreadsheet should be intuitive - it is suggested to only enter values into the orange (not yellow) shaded cells;

Column / Purpose
Ref / A simple ref code for each statement
Order / order of all the statements - a useful column to re-order the statements to their original order
Module title / Title of the module
X-Cutting Theme / Every module has sections for each of the 4 cross cutting themes
Statement type / This describes the type of the statement - which may be useful when answering the statement
Statement / The statement you need to assess your organisation against
Tool notes / The 'Carbon / GHG' module has statements that also score against the carbon module - these are highlighted in yellow and this reference explains where the answer has come from - please DO NOT change the value in these cells - it is automatic and will be more user friendly in the online version
SDG - primary, secondary and tertiary / Each statement is coded against up to 3 UN SDGs - see here about SDGs
Answer / Use the drop downs to select your answer, Yes, in progress, No and N/A - in the final online tool there will be scoring. Please note in progress should be used where an org is at least 50% of the way there in achieving the statement
Responsible person / It may be useful to record or assign the responsible person for this statement - please also use this for sort and filter
User Comments - free text cells in website next to each statements / Free text for the user to provide evidence why the answer is yes, or N/A, but can also be used for notes and next steps info to statements answer in progress or no

Online version functionality

The online version will be launched in October and will have greater functionality than the original GCC tool; firstly the each statement will have the four answering options as detailed above and a text box to be used for comments, evidence and next steps. The excel export has been improved with greater content to make the creation or an evidence report, hand over notes and an action plan much easier for users.

A new PDF dashboard will also be an output to support reporting of progress and any communications around the organisations progress and achievement. This also include an overall indication and per module of how local progress is supporting the SDGs at a national and global level, as well as benchmarking against similar organisations.

New structure;

Modules
Corporate Approach / Asset Management & Utilities / Travel and Logistics / Adaptation / Capital Projects / Green Space & Biodiversity / Sustainable care models / Our People / Sustainable use of Resources / Carbon / GHGs
X-cutting themes / Governance & Policy
Core Responsibilities
Procurement & Supply chain
Working with Staff, Patients and Communities