On Wednesday 28 March, the RUH, along with many NHS organisations across the South West will be taking part in the first annual NHS Sustainability Day.
Trusts across the region will be engaging with staff, patients and the public on sustainability by holding recycling events, planting trees, and showing climate change documentaries and films to get people to understand the mutual benefits of sustainability and health.
NHS Sustainability Day is being led by the NHS Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) and Dr David Pencheon, NHS SDU Director said: “NHS Sustainability Day is a day of action and a rallying call to the NHS to embrace and consider all elements of delivering sustainable healthcare: care that improves health today but which doesn’t jeopardise our ability to do it tomorrow.”
Howard Jones, Director of Estates at the RUH said: “I am delighted that the RUH, like so many NHS organisations in our region, is taking part in the NHS Sustainability Day of Action. Sustainability has become an accepted way of working here at the RUH and we have already achieved so much in terms of reducing the amount of fuel we use, the energy we save and creating more sustainable buildings. To mark the day, we will be running an hour’s tour at lunchtime on Wednesday, to showcase our investment in energy savings. We will take in the new £5M energy centre, four other small-scale CHP units, LED lighting installations and parts of the new NICU which won an ‘excellent’ rating for its environment design. The tour will be followed by a tree-planting ceremony to illustrate our commitment to improving our green spaces around the site.”
In addition to the support of local NHS organisations the NHS Sustainability Day is being backed by well known figures such as Sir David Nicholson, Health Minister Simon Burns and actor and presenter Stephen Fry. Stephen said: “The NHS is one of the greatest institutions in the world – helping to look after us while doing no harm.”
The aim is for all NHS organisations to work towards a more sustainable health service, one where hospitals serve more locally sourced fresh food, where patients can receive their care closer to home and where buildings are more energy efficient. This will help to reduce waste and save money, money which can then be reinvested back into frontline services, as well as helping to protect the wider environment by lowering harmful carbon emissions.
