Positively Green

The South West Imaging Training Academy (formally the Peninsula Radiology Academy ) staff are just one of UHP’s teams completing actions to make their department more sustainable. Since the sustainability group was founded in 2022, they have taken on a number of projects whilst striving for green results.

Various teams across the Trust have changed their processes in order to reduce their paper use. From digitising treatment escalation forms to exploring the digital alternatives to paper-heavy training booklets in Pharmacy, UHP is striving for a paper-free future.

In November 2024, we were lucky enough to welcome Plymouth High School for Girls’ Earth Alliance team to Derriford Hospital’s grounds for a litter pick. Seventeen students collected 4.5 kgs of waste in about an hour while we chatted about the Trust’s commitment to sustainability.

Derriford Combined Laboratories on Level 7 are gearing up for their annual Christmas Vegan bake sale in aid of the charity Harvey’s Lab Tours.

For October’s Wider Management Team meeting, Site Services decided to renovate the pond between the DCHW and the PGMC not only to improve the space, but to give our staff some respite from the office and the daily grind. Overgrown brambles, weeds and an inaccessible path made this space unattractive and underused- that was of course until we worked together to spruce it up!

It’s that time of year again! We have refreshed our Annual Sustainability Report for 2023/24 to incorporate the work completed this year and our plans for the next. Read on to access the report and find out what we've been filling our days with.

Carly, a nurse on Pencarrow ward, has been a recycling champion for around 8 years- this sustained effort is born out of a real drive to do her bit to lessen UHP’s impact on the environment. If every department had a Carly, we’d be on our way to our sustainability goals in no time!

After working for almost a year on the actions described in the Royal College of Emergency Medicine Green ED programme, we are super excited to announce that Derriford’s Emergency Department has achieved the Bronze award!

The fifth member of the Sustainability Team is only 60cm tall, but his environment-saving skills are mega…Introducing Sven the Sustainability Seal of Approval!

As an organisation, UHP continues to implement changes to our outpatient pathways to improve patient experience, support a greener service delivery and reduce unnecessary appointments, the latter of which contributes to a reduction in clinical risk.  Some of the key areas of change are outlined in this blog...