Positively Green

Four years ago, the Oesophago-gastric unit at University Hospitals Plymouth faced a familiar challenge: managing clinical correspondence efficiently without a fully integrated electronic records system.

They introduced a simple but effective solution — the Digital Intray — that has since been adopted by 16 service lines across the Trust.

As University Hospitals Plymouth moves towards becoming a digitally enabled organisation with the adoption of the Devon-wide Electronic Patient Record system, departments are thinking creatively about how they can ditch manual paper systems in favour of electronic ones. The Cancer Services Team within the Performance & Management Information Department are no exception...

The Sustainability team’s collaboration with Earth Alliance at Plymouth High School for Girls (PHSG) has culminated in a thought provoking and creative sculpture which is made from clean hospital waste.

Every year, the Sustainability team collects transport data so we can report on how our staff, patient and visitors are travelling to the hospital. There are four surveys which work together to provide the Trust with a comprehensive understanding of how people are currently getting to the hospital and what initiatives would encourage them to make more sustainable choices The first three of these surveys demonstrate how staff are getting to work, and the results for 2024 are in!

Since the 1970s, the UK has lost an estimated 97% of its flower-rich meadows , the once thriving habitats that provided essential food sources for pollinators such as bees and butterflies. In response, initiatives like No Mow May, launched by PlantLife in 2019, have helped raise awareness of the benefits of letting nature take its course .  

UHP have recognised how medical staff with braided/afro hair who work in operating theatres often find it difficult to fit their natural hair into the disposable caps. In response, UHP has started supplying reusable theatre caps that accommodate for braided/afro hair. 

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust has been awarded £1.2 million towards energy efficiency projects and renewable energy following a successful bid put in by the Sustainability team. This achievement is great news for our Net Zero goals and will help us to save money and carbon emissions. 

Since implementing theequipment/furniture/resource reuse and management system Warp It back in November 2023, UHP has achieved so much in the name of reusing and conserving resources.

Since the publication of our Green Travel Plan, we have been working hard to promote the benefits of travelling sustainably to our hospital; we’re hopeful that this blog will point staff and patients in the right direction for information about travelling to UHP via active transport.

UHP's Surgery Care Group is leading the way in embedding sustainable practices into their models of care. Several Green Theatre Projects have started across the Trust, all championed by the Deputy Care Group for Surgery.