New electric vehicle chargers funding is making hospitals greener
Hospitals are ‘charging’ ahead with a new scheme which will save energy and money after being awarded over £41,000 to install 10 electrical chargepoints for its vehicles.
The Trust will be fitting the chargers at its Southend and Basildon hospital sites as part of the newly announced NHS Chargepoint Accelerator scheme, with five at each site.
Investing in these for NHS vehicles will deliver reductions in fuel and maintenance costs that can be redirected into front line care. It’s estimated those installed at the two hospital sites will save just over £38,000 a year in costs, meaning the scheme will be making savings just after its first year of use.
Nine departments use the Trust’s electric vehicle fleet to deliver equipment and care to patients, including helping the mobile screening service by travelling to and from clinics, transporting a portable ultrasound and other equipment and also moving medical items, such as specimens, medication, patient notes and even theatre trolleys.
Lauren Barnard, Executive Director of Corporate Governance at the Trust, said: “It’s fantastic to have been awarded this money for electrical chargepoints. This is a great step forward for our greener NHS agenda and it will improve environmental conditions for our patients and staff. Improving air quality will support those with long term conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses and be beneficial for general population health.”
The announcement of the scheme was made by the Department for Transport and the Department for Health and Social Care about the investment of £8 million from Office for Zero Emission Vehicles for the installation of on-site electric vehicle chargepoints to support electrification of the NHS fleet.
This investment will deliver savings of £130 million for the NHS over the next 25 years, with an estimated average return on investment in just four years. The wider social benefits from reduced emissions and improved air quality are valued at a further £93million.
NHS Chief Sustainability Officer Chris Gormley said: “The NHS has already implemented hundreds of projects that reduce emissions and drive significant cost savings, all while improving patient care. This new £8 million investment, across 62 NHS Trusts and around 224 sites, supports the renewed commitment in the government’s 10 Year Health Plan to deliver a more sustainable NHS while also helping hospitals to save millions on fuel and maintenance costs and reducing air pollution. These savings can be reinvested directly into frontline care, ensuring the NHS continues to deliver for our patients and communities.”