NHS Forth Valley – Anchor Institution

As an anchor organisation, NHS Forth Valley is committed to fostering community wealth by actively supporting local people into stable employment, prioritising the procurement of goods and services locally whenever possible, and ensuring NHS resources are utilised to benefit the local community.

What is an Anchor Institution?

Anchor Institutions are large-scale organisations (for example councils, universities and NHS Boards), usually public sector and usually large employers that are unlikely to relocate and have a significant stake and strong local community presence in their geographical area. ‘Anchor’ institutions or organisations are so called, as they are considered firmly fixed in one location and have a stake in the local area.

The NHS has influence in spending substantial amounts of money on goods and services, considerable land and buildings, and employs lots of people. The size, scale and reach of the NHS means it influences the health and wellbeing of communities simply by being there. It can use its size to positively impact the local population, above and beyond providing healthcare.

There are five ways in which NHS organisations act as anchor institutions:

Workforce – we can employ more local people and provide fair stable work
Spend – we can buy more goods and services locally and develop the local supply chains to contribute to local economic growth
Land and assets – we can use our land and buildings for community benefit
Environmental sustainability – minimise our impact on the environment
Partnerships – we can work with partners to develop good practice and anchors approaches