The NHS Evergreen Sustainable Supplier Assessment is designed to help suppliers share sustainability information in a consistent way and align with NHS net zero and social value ambitions.
This guide explains how to complete the assessment and use it to strengthen your sustainability reporting approach.
What the Evergreen Assessment Is (and Why It Matters)
The Evergreen Assessment is an online self-assessment tool for organisations supplying, or planning to supply, goods or services to the NHS. It provides a standardised way of delivering corporate sustainability reporting data to NHS buyers, reducing duplication and improving transparency.
Once completed, suppliers receive a sustainability maturity score that reflects their alignment with NHS priorities, including net zero, social value and modern slavery.
For many organisations, this assessment is becoming a core component of their broader sustainability reporting credentials, particularly when engaging with public sector contracts.
Who Needs to Complete It?
Any organisation that provides, or intends to provide, goods or services to:
- NHS England
- NHS Trusts
- Integrated Care Boards (ICBs).
For some cases, it is mandatory, including:
- Suppliers on NHS Supply Chain frameworks
- Suppliers bidding for new NHS frameworks
- Organisations responding to NHS medicines tenders.
Preparing to Complete the Assessment
Before starting, it’s important to establish who will be responsible for managing the submission. This is typically coordinated by a commercial, procurement or sustainability lead, with input from teams responsible for carbon data, compliance and ESG reporting.
The assessment is hosted on the Atamis supplier portal. Organisations can either use an existing account, join their company profile, or register as a new supplier by providing standard business details such as a Company Registration Number and DUNS number.
Taking a structured approach at this stage ensures your corporate sustainability reporting data is consistent, accurate, and aligned across departments.
Accessing and Submitting the Assessment
Once logged into Atamis, the Evergreen Assessment can be accessed through the supplier dashboard under the relevant assessment or opportunities section. After selecting the assessment, you can review guidance, accept the invitation and complete the submission.
The process is designed to support structured sustainability reporting, guiding you through each section before submission. Once complete, your maturity score is issued and remains valid for 12 months.
Suppliers are encouraged to update their submission if there are material changes to their sustainability performance, ensuring ongoing alignment with corporate sustainability reporting best practice.
What Information You Will Need to Provide
The assessment focuses on key areas commonly found in sustainability reporting frameworks.
You will be asked to provide information on your environmental performance, including carbon reduction initiatives, emissions data, and progress towards net zero targets. Alongside this, the assessment captures your organisation’s approach to social value and ethical supply chains, including modern slavery risk management.
For many organisations, this mirrors existing ESG disclosures and can support alignment with other reporting requirements, helping to streamline their overall sustainability reporting process.
Understanding Your Maturity Score
After submission, responses are assessed across four maturity levels, which indicate how advanced your organisation is in its sustainability reporting and implementation.
These levels are:
Level 1: Early Stage
- Public commitment to net zero
- Initial sustainability engagement.
Level 2: Developing
- Structured carbon reporting
- Clear social value and modern slavery approach.
Level 3: Advanced
- Independently validated net zero targets (2045)
- Completion of modern slavery assessment.
Level 4: Leading Practice
- Global net zero targets (validated)
- Supply chain mapping and risk mitigation
- Advanced transparency reporting.
These levels help organisations understand both their current position and next steps for improvement.
Used effectively, it can help organisations identify gaps in their ESG data, improve the quality of their corporate sustainability reporting, and align more closely with NHS and wider public sector expectations. It also supports more informed decision-making by linking sustainability performance with business strategy.
Tips for a Strong Submission
To get the most value from the Evergreen Assessment:
- Engage cross-functional teams (sustainability, procurement, compliance)
- Ensure your carbon data is accurate and up to date
- Align your targets with NHS net zero timelines (2045/2050)
- Review your modern slavery and social value policies
- Use the output to inform internal sustainability planning.
Final Thoughts
The NHS Evergreen Sustainable Supplier Assessment is becoming a key mechanism for sustainability reporting within the healthcare supply chain. By approaching it strategically, organisations can go beyond compliance and use it to enhance their corporate sustainability reporting data, improve transparency, and demonstrate meaningful progress towards net zero.
To understand how the NHS’s Evergreen Sustainable Supplier Assessment may impact you, read our market briefing.
Written by Graham Paul – Service Delivery Director
With over twenty years of experience in the energy sector, Graham leads service delivery, sales and marketing to enhance customer experience and scale TEAM’s carbon and energy services with a data‑driven, outcomes focus.