Staff at Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals are celebrating the recognition of their efforts to ‘go green’.   The Trust won the Environmental Practice Award at the recent Health Business Awards.   The citation reads:

As a major local employer with a turnover of £174m the two hospitals create 417 tonnes of domestic waste and 514 tonnes of clinical waste each year. Around half a million patients, relatives and visitors make a journey to the hospitals each year. Although Ashford and St. Peter’s Hospitals has over the years had a number of ‘green’ initiatives, in the light of recent concerns it has decided to make a clear commitment to ‘go green’. This commitment was set out in a paper to the Trust board meeting on 31st May.   In recent years the hospitals Trust has contributed to improving the local environment and reducing the Trust’s ‘carbon footprint’ through:

·          The development of Homewood Park on old NHS land;

·          development of a new boiler house which is more efficient and reduces emissions;

·          Establishing a recycling scheme which has seen the amount of domestic waste recycled go from 17.5 per cent in December 2006 to 38 per cent in April 2007;

·          Continuing a programme of recycling and helping others through the donation of equipment and supplies which would be regarded as obsolete in the UK but are gratefully received by developing nations; and

·          Promoting the use of alternatives to travel by car, such as the Trust’s own ‘Peterbus’ and ‘Hospital Hopper’ services, improved bike shelters and participating in the Surrey Car Share Scheme.

Director of Performance, Information and Facilities, Ian Mackenzie says: “This is great news.   It was very clear to us that the world is changing and we have a duty to our local population, patients and staff to embrace new ways of thinking about how we interact with the environment.   Our discussions with the Carbon Trust showed us that for a small investment we could make long term savings which can be reinvested in patient care.”

Acting Facilities General Manager Dave Axten, comments: “Although we have supported a number of initiatives in the past we know that there is more we can do and that is why we signed up to the ‘Convergence of Health and Sustainable Development’ manifesto and network.   We were one of the first Trusts to do that.   We will be working during 2008 to ensure that we make further progress toward meeting our commitment to the eight point checklist for an environmentally sustainable NHS.”

The Health Business Awards, held on December 13th at the Royal College of Physicians and presented by broadcast journalist Fiona Foster, recognised organisations that work inside and alongside the NHS in 12 award categories.  The Awards are organised by Health Business Magazine and PSE Ltd.  Further information about the Health Business Awards can be found at www.hbawards.co.uk