Our Sustainability commitment
We want to work in a way that has a positive effect on the communities we serve. This means delivering high quality healthcare while ensuring we spend public money well, are smart and efficient in the use of natural resources while helping to build healthy and resilient communities.
Our 2022-25 Sustainability Plan represents our commitment to build upon previous work undertaken by the Trust to reduce the environmental impact of our activities while supporting the NHS Long term Plan’s focus on sustainable healthcare delivery.
This Plan reflects the climate emergency we face which has resulted in the legally enforceable target within the UK Climate Change Act to transition to ‘net zero’ emissions by 2050, or earlier if possible. It also reflects the NHS Long Term Plan goals and the NHS England and NHS Improvement ‘For a Greener NHS’ initiative.
Being proud to make a difference in everything we do is our mantra, and this is never more so than in our drive to make an impact on our environmental footprint. To reflect this, we have adopted “creating a sustainable organisation” as a sixth corporate aim in our new corporate strategy.
We have been successful in reducing emissions that contribute to climate change in the past, but we know that there is more we can do to improve the environmental, social, and financial impact of our organisation, our communities and the wider NHS.
To achieve this, we will focus on energy and water use within our buildings, the prevention and management of waste, the procurement of goods and services, business, patient, visitor, and staff commuting travel and transport as well as models of care. We will further develop our approach to embedding sustainable practices and where possible act as an exemplar to our communities, other NHS Trusts, and partners. Our passion, ambition and plans are reflected in this document which we have shared widely to engage and involve our staff, patients, communities, and partners in this important work.
This is our first Sustainability Plan as an organisation and we know we have much to learn about this agenda, but we are determined to make a difference. Please do take a few minutes to read our Sustainability strategy.
