The Estates and Facilities Department at the University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust won the Award for the Best Initiative by a Public or Uniformed Service at the recent 2012 Climate Week Awards, held at London’s Lancaster House.
The Department, led by estates and facilities management director, Trevor Payne, was recognised for driving forward a low carbon agenda across the Trust and its buildings, and for spearheading efforts to encourage other NHS Trusts and private health sector providers to reduce their carbon footprint. An Estates Department-devised carbon management plan saw the Trust achieve a 14% cut in its carbon footprint in 2011, and a 6% reduction in its energy costs. Locally, 73 carbon champions were recruited, and a ‘Carbon Oscars’ ceremony hosted, while on a national footing, Trevor Payne and his team worked closely with the BRE to develop a new online NHS Sustainability Portal (HEJ – January 2012). The UCLH Estates and Facilities Department also created what the Climate Week Awards judges dubbed ‘an eBay-style reuse system for the NHS’, via which Trusts can exchange equipment, and a new NHS Sustainability Day of Action, which took place on 28 March (see HEJ – February 2012, and page 6 of this issue).
