Staff at the Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust are hopeful that their hard work to reduce the hospital’s carbon footprint will earn them an award at the NHS Sustainability Awards this week.
The awards night will showcase and recognise the good work that hospitals across the country have done to make their workplaces more sustainable.
There are 15 different awards up for grabs, including innovation, carbon, energy and infrastructure and design.
The RUH has been shortlisted in three categories; innovation, water and waste. Staff will have an opportunity to highlight the innovative changes that have been made to increase recycling and reduce overall waste.
Howard Jones, Director of Estates and Facilities at the RUH, said: “A number of important changes have been made at the hospital. We have been engaging with staff across the hospital to ensure everyone understands their responsibilities in managing waste.
“Our environment porters were integral to this work and they won the Trust’s Team of the year Award in 2015 in recognition of their contribution.
“We will also highlight our Environment Champions scheme which enables staff to make changes in their own area of work to protect the environment and support the Trust’s aims to reduce waste and encourage recycling.
“The project, led by Hayley Williams, who is our Compliance and Sustainability Analyst, is harnessing the enthusiasm of environmentally-minded staff who are supporting us in achieving all of these things. The overall objective is to reduce our carbon footprint and make cost savings.
“We’re delighted that we’ve been shortlisted and we really hope that we’ll be bringing back a trophy for the hospital ‘mantelpiece’ in April.”
The winners on the NHS Sustainability Awards will be announced at a ceremony in Birmingham on 27th April, hosted by special guests TV Presenter Michaela Strachan and author Andy Reid.