Between November and December 2025, the suHCO procurers conducted focus groups across participating sites, bringing together 61 professionals: 17 health and care practitioners, 25 procurement staff and 19 sustainability managers.
The discussions explored how sustainability is currently addressed within healthcare organisations, what prevents further progress, and which features the suHCO solution must provide to enable meaningful change.
Sustainability Is recognised — But not embedded
Across roles, sustainability is widely acknowledged as important. However, it remains weakly integrated into routine workflows and decision-making.
Health and care practitioners described sustainability efforts as largely informal and dependent on individual motivation. Procurement teams address sustainability mainly through policy and tender criteria, often driven by compliance requirements. Sustainability managers operate strategically but face challenges translating plans into operational practice.
A consistent pattern emerged: sustainability is often perceived as additional workload rather than part of core processes.
Systemic barriers
Participants identified recurring constraints across roles:
- Limited access to reliable, comparable sustainability data
- Uncertainty about what rules permit
- Competing priorities, particularly patient safety and compliance
- Weak integration with existing systems and governance
What users need
Across all user groups, three priorities stood out for a digital solution:
- Automation in sustainability monitoring and evaluation
- Guidance to support sustainability implementation
- Reliable data to support decision making
Adoption conditions were clear: the solution must simplify work, integrate with existing systems, and provide clarity on accountability and governance.
These findings are an important input for the development of the suHCO Challenge Brief.