While healthcare estates and facilities teams NHS-wide are acutely aware of the need to reduce their facilities’ carbon footprint, obtaining the necessary funding to undertake the substantial improvements to buildings, plant, and equipment, that may, in many cases, be essential to achieving this goal, will remain a challenge for many Trusts for some time to come.
Nevertheless, the Government has underlined its intention to support the NHS’s carbon reduction efforts, having in late January announced a £50 million capital fund for 2013- 2014 ‘to fund new and innovative projects to improve energy efficiency and reduce the carbon footprint of the NHS’. HEJ reports on this, and a number of other potential funding streams available, to help NHS organisations contribute to the wider carbon-cutting agenda, and examines how bodies such as the Carbon and Energy Fund, and the Carbon Trust, can help both with funding, and via advice and technical support.
In a letter to all NHS Chief Executives, finance directors, and estates and facilities directors, on 23 January this year, deputy NHS chief executive, David Flory, explained that Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health, Dr Dan Poulter MP, had announced a plan to establish a £50 m capital fund in 2013- 2104, ‘to improve energy efficiency across the NHS, supporting organisations to further achieve energy and carbon reductions as set out in the NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy for England (CRS)’. David Flory’s letter pointed out that, with 6,886 hectares of land, and 28 million m2 of floor space, the NHS in England has one of Europe’s largest estates, while in 2011-2012, the energy it consumed cost a reported £583 million. The letter said: “This makes energy consumption a major consideration for NHS organisations in terms of budgetary availability when focusing on additional cost for frontline patient services.” The letter added that the NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy for England (CRS) 2009 had ‘set an ambition for the NHS to help drive change towards a low carbon strategy’.
‘Clear gap’ highlighted
Log in or register FREE to read the rest
This story is Premium Content and is only available to registered users. Please log in at the top of the page to view the full text.
If you don't already have an account, please register with us completely free of charge.
