Environmental Practice Award
sponsored by Big Green Book
This award will recognise the individual NHS project (smarter use of energy, transport, waste management) that has furthered the progress of environmental practice in the NHS.
2011 Winner
University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust
University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust has teamed up with Bristol University to pilot Green Impact Hospitals - a new accreditation scheme to help departments reduce their negative impact on the environment. Every department is challenged to implement a number of easy practical actions including recycling improvements, using less water, promoting sustainable travel and reducing waste.
Commended
The Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust
Royal Free Hospital NHS Trust has developed an energy centre which will reduce carbon emissions by 16% in the first year and save the hospital £13.7 million over the term of the contract. The annual saving of £850,000 on fuel bills amounts to about 20% of the Royal Free’s energy bills alone. At the heart of the energy centre is a gas-turbine CHP unit. Surplus heat will be used to supply 1500 local council houses in Camden.
Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust
Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust has been recognised for its use of an innovative Sharps Container System. It incorporates a reusable container which will help the Trust to reduce its carbon footprint by up to 1184 tonnes of carbon over ten years; reduce its plastic consumption by 130 tonnes over ten years; reduce its consumption of cardboard by 13 tonnes per year and save in the region of £7,000 per year.
Peterborough & Stamford Hospitals NHS Trust
Peterborough and Stamford Hospitals is reducing its environmental impact in a number of ways. The new Peterborough City Hospital features several environmental innovations - windows have been strategically located to ensure green views and other design features which enhance the patient vista; fitted taps with hand sensors minimise water wastage; passive infrared lighting sensors also reduce energy use.
University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust
UHSM has installed two biomass boilers, one of which allows its cardiac centre to be self-sufficient in energy. It also has a smaller biomass boiler that heats its cystic fibrosis unit as well as implementing other measures such as a ground source heat pump and more efficient lighting, insulation and building controls. This has helped reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 26% and has put £120,000 from its energy budget back into patient care.
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2010 Winner:
Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust - Sustainability Action Plan
Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust's Sustainability Committee has gone from strength in recent years. As well as implementing phase three of the Carbon Trusts's Carbon Management Scheme, Chesterfield has also tackled food procurement, by stipulating that all food for their main hospital canteen be sourced from within 50 miles of the hospital. This is also being introduced into tender documents for other goods and services.
Commended:
Sussex Community NHS Trust - Steam Boiler Plant at Brighton General Hospital
This project involves replacing large inefficient central steam boiler plants and distribution systems at Brighton General Hospital with high efficiency independent local condensing boilers with fully automated building management control system linking all buildings on site. All centralised Domestic hotwater systems are also to be replaced with high efficiency instanteneous plate heat exchangers and point of use water heaters. Implementation costs were £1.3m. It is estimated the project will save 1084 tonnes of C02 per year
South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust - Reducing Paper/Car Lease scheme
Various environmental initiatives at South East Coast include the development of a tool which calculates the CO2 emitted based on the different variables in paper production. In the longer term SECAmb is looking to remove the use of paper almost entirely through the use of an electronic PCR. One of the key plans in a recently agreed Trust lease car scheme was the setting of an upper limit for CO2 emissions that will reduce in line with government targets.
Ashford & St. Peter's Hospital NHS Trust - Water Conservation
The satellite dialysis unit in Ashford incorporated a simple water recycling system into its new design. The salvaged reject water is directed to a recovery tank. From there it is pumped to a grey water tank. which feeds the laundry room. Float switches divert reject water to the drain if the grey water tank becomes full, and diverter valves direct the reject water directly to the drain from the reverse osmosis system during monthly chemical disinfections.
NHS Oldham - Green IT
A system which forces computers to switch themselves off at night is saving NHS Oldham thousands of pounds and hundreds of tonnes of carbon. NHS Oldham expects the PC shutdown system, which allows computers in its data centre to be switched on and off remotely, to reduce its annual energy costs by £41,000 and decrease its carbon footprint by around 800 tonnes per year. The system has been installed on 600 desktops since November 2009.
