Forthcoming ‘energy crunch’ imminent

So says Shamir Jiwa, founder and MD of MAXIM Eyes UK, a Surrey-based energy consultancy that serves business and organisations across the UK and Poland. Here he gives his personal view on some of the key short- to medium-term energy and resource management issues facing both hospitals and other healthcare facilities, and the wider UK, in the face of dwindling supplies of some, and especially fossil-fuel derived, forms of energy.

In the past 10 years the healthcare sector has faced increasing financial challenges, as both margins and profitability have decreased. In both the private and public healthcare sectors, administrators have been challenged with budgetary constraints. In addition, the current financial downturn has made it increasingly difficult for healthcare facilities to operate, with margins being squeezed, and overheads rising. We are also living longer, and by 2050 it is estimated that the world population aged over 60 years’ old will triple, from 700 million to two billion, creating a potential increase in the needs that the elderly will have, and a higher dependency on healthcare. How will healthcare systems handle this increasing financial pressure? Hospitals will need to find a way to be more efficient, and one of those areas that will need increasing scrutiny will be energy. Energy efficiency projects can unlock trapped capital that can improve a hospital’s profit margin, or be used to fund technological advancements, purchase medical equipment, or improve the patient experience.

Rising energy usage