A commitment to sustainability: Northumbria Healthcare awarded two silver accreditations
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust have been awarded not one, but two, silver accreditations for their consistent efforts in improving sustainability.
The initiative includes a framework of evidence-based actions split into bronze, silver and gold levels, with aims to encourage progression towards the wider NHS goal of reaching net zero by 2040.
Surpassing themselves with a whopping 77%, the Trust achieved silver in ‘The Investors in The Environment’ scheme after originally only applying for bronze accreditation.
This award can only be achieved through developing and implementing an Environmental Management System and putting forward a range of projects that will support continual improvement in resource and carbon management.
Silver accredited organisations also need to implement a travel plan, improve upon waste management practices and manage staff engagement.
But that wasn’t the only win; with the trust’s emergency department receiving their second silver level accreditation from the Green ED Royal College of Emergency Medicine.
Impressively, Northumbria Healthcare’s emergency department, based in Cramlington, is one of only two in the country to have been awarded the silver-level accreditation.
Head of sustainability, Claire Winter is proud that the teams hard-work and commitment has paid off: “Both accreditations are an incredible achievement for our emergency department and our trust. As a trust, we are committed to creating cleaner air surrounding our hospital sites for our patients, visitors and staff.”
Summing up the accomplishment, Claire expanded: “These achievements not only encompass the work of the sustainability and Green ED but also wider staff within our trust who have supported our developments and have embraced change in order to contribute to our net zero goal.”