Positively Green

October is always a busy time for the Sustainability Team, what with Unblocktober and Recycle Week, and this year was no different.

University Hospitals Plymouth has recently signed up to the GreenED programme, a Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) initiative to measure and reduce the environmental impact of Emergency Departments (ED) in the UK, thus driving environmentally sustainable practices within the specialty of Emergency Medicine.

Over the past 12 months, the Trust has continued to embed its sustainability programme into the organisation following the update of its Green Plan. Encompassing sustainability in its broadest sense, the programme aligns with initial expectations set out by NHS England for NHS Trusts and Integrated Care Systems in order to deliver a Net Zero Carbon NHS, as well as social value considerations commensurate with the Trust’s responsibilities as an anchor institution in Plymouth.

Acting responsibly and reducing the impact we have on our environment is an important consideration for the Trust, from the way we care for our patients, to ensuring we have a strong, financial and sustainable system in place. As a large acute healthcare organisation, we are committed to actively delivering our contribution to reduce carbon emissions and embed sustainability into everything we do. 

Rather than burn the multitude of plastic straws we have had stored since the plastic straw ban, our DWMS team had an inspired idea to domate them to our local scrap store. 

Car Free Day was in full swing on Friday 22^nd September as the Sustainability team worked hard to raise awareness of alternative forms of travel.

UHP's Beryl Bike dock outside the Level 6 main entrance have been a huge hit. Plymouth City Council have reported there have been 15,000 journeys made since the installation, with many staff still finding out about them and using them for the first time.  

Since Choosing Greener was launched back in February 2022, the interactive platform has attracted an online community of green thinkers and climate pledgers. The platform developers have recently undertaken a members’ survey so the Sustainability team can have some helpful insights into member trends...

Today, over 70,021 individuals from over 5,266 organisations are Carbon Literate – UHP’s sustainability team are working hard to increase that number by delivering Carbon Literacy Training, the first session of which took place on Monday 18 September.

This June, University Hospitals Plymouth took part in the ‘Big Plymouth Travel Challenge’ in an effort to reduce carbon emissions and boost physical and mental health. A team swapped their cars for a sustainable transport option and competitively logged their postive actions.