Positively Green

The World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW, 18-24 November) is a global campaign to raise awareness and increase understanding of AMR and to promote global action to tackle the emergence and spread of drug-resistant pathogens. AMR is also an environmental issue: AMR and climate change are two of the top health emergencies and can be considered as two interlinked public health priorities.

UHP are now stocking locally sourced sandwiches with compostable packaging, a greener choice for our patients!

Within the Emergency Care Building programme, the Trust’s social value lead Sharon is working closely with our Emergency Care Building construction partner, Willmott Dixon, on joint social value projects (under their commitments in the original tender) which will increase training, employment, benefit the local community and help us achieve some of our sustainability goals.

Baby Loss Awareness Week (9 to 15 October) is a week for everyone in the baby loss community and beyond to come together to remember and commemorate our much-loved and missed babies. UHP is no exception to this annual reflection and are pleased to be able to offer the newly refurbished garden outside The Snowdrop Baby Bereavement Unit to families who need it.

The Sustainability Team are super excited to celebrate the launch of our Green Impact Programme! Green Impact is a sustainability accreditation programme for staff and students that rewards sustainable action within departments and teams. Teams from across the Trust are invited to form and work through our online toolkit to implement positive sustainability changes, and work towards an award. By taking part, staff can learn more about sustainability, lead on something outside of their day-to-day role, develop new skills, and make a real positive impact on sustainability. 

It’s that time of year again! We have refreshed our Annual Sustainability Report 2024/2025 to incorporate the work completed this year and our plans for the next.

The British Association of Urological Surgeons has put together a national snapshot audit for bladder cancer known as Environmental Lessons Learned and Applied (ELLA). This audit aims to assess current Bladder Cancer Pathways against a baseline and put forward recommendations on how the services could be decarbonised. UHP was one of the trusts who took part in this late 2024 audit, and the results indicate that UHP's pathway is second greenest pathway in the UK!

World Breastfeeding Week runs each year from 1st to 7th August to celebrate, promote and engage individuals in the topic of breastfeeding. The theme this year focuses on environment and climate change and has the tagline: ‘create sustainable support systems’. Encouraging and supporting any breastfeeding (where this is the preference of the family) helps reduce environmental harm and aligns with living sustainably within the planet’s ecological limits.

The Infection Prevention and Management Team (IPMT) have made waves in the reduction of non-sterile gloves used at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust and have reported a reduction of approximately 630,000 gloves being used between 2023/24 and 2024/25, and a reduction of approximately 16,461 kgCO2e. 

A recent study of air pollution levels in and around Derriford Hospital has contributed towards University Hospital Plymouth NHS Trust’s objective of an ‘excellent’ score in the Clean Air Hospital Framework, as set out in its Green Plan.